Allegheny Co. President Judge Orders 'As Many Proceedings As Possible Through Videoconferencing'
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - The Allegheny County president judge has ordered "as many proceedings as possible through videoconferencing" at the courthouse amid a rise in coronavirus cases in the court system.
This comes in the wake of two more coronavirus cases. Yesterday, KDKA learned six employees in the court system tested positive for coronavirus.
Those six are made up of two cases in the courthouse, one in the City-County building, one in pretrial services, one at a district magistrate's office and one employee in the family division who was working from home.
The two new cases are in the municipal court and probation.
A district court administrator says they're also aware of two attorneys who work in the courthouse and have tested positive.
The court administration says all of those employees have been isolated, quarantined and contact traced and that trials and hearings can safely continue in the Allegheny County Courthouse and the municipal courts building where no positive cases have been reported.
Only one court in the county will be closing. District Magistrate Anthony DeLuca's court in Penn Hills will be shutting down for the next two weeks after one employee tested positive for COVID-19. Court administrators say this is being done out of an abundance of caution.
The court system says all other buildings are safe and following CDC guidelines for operations. Still, all is not know about the state of infection. The District Attorney's Office reports three cases and the Sheriff's Office is reporting one.
