Allegheny County Meets Threshold For Reopening: Health Department

PITTSBURGH, PA - Allegheny County currently meets the state coronavirus case criteria to reopen, but neighboring counties will have to meet the threshold as well before the entire southwest region reopens.

Under the plan unveiled Wednesday by Gov. Tom Wolf, a region or county can make the list for consideration to reopen if it averages over 14 days 50 or fewer coronavirus cases per 100,000 residents per day. The Wolf administration then will work closely with county and local governments to enable them to reopen and transition back to work.

With an approximate 1.25 million residents in Allegheny County, the number needed for reopening would need to be less than 625 cases. In the past 14 days for which the county health department has likely complete data - April 2 through April 15 - there were 396 positive cases reported out of 4,746 tested, an 8.3 percent positivity rate.

"Based on that measurement alone, it appears as if the county would meet that threshold," the health department said in a statement. "However, we need more testing to have a better estimate
of our case rate and our estimate does not address the other counties considered to be in the region that the state will be considering."

The statement did not address whether the county would consider petitioning for reopening before the entire southwest region is ready. The health department noted that the state listed other criteria such as testing, robust case investigation and tracing, and identification of high-risk settings.

The health department stated it will continue to coordinate outbreak mitigation efforts with the state health department.