'This May 31st Will Look A Lot Different': Allegheny Co. Officials Say They Will Follow State's Easing Of COVID-19 Restrictions
By: KDKA-TV News Staff
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- At a press conference Wednesday afternoon, Allegheny County officials confirmed that the county will follow the state's lead in easing restrictions on Memorial Day.
"We have followed the state guidelines for the last many months. We don't have our own mitigation orders in place. We have gone with the state. So when the state's [orders] are lifted, so are ours," Dr. Debra Bogen, Director of the Allegheny County Health Department, said.
Dr. Bogen added that future decisions would be made based on the data collected on case counts, testing and vaccination efforts.
Dr. Bogen reported that while new cases are decreasing in rate, she would like to see improvement in the current numbers. Allegheny County reported 158 new cases on Wednesday.
"Although cases are dropping, they aren't dropping as quickly as I would like. I would like to see cases drop significantly as we approach the end of the month when mitigation orders, except for masking, will be lifted," Dr. Bogen said.
On Tuesday, Governor Wolf announced that all COVID-19 mitigation orders, except for the mask mandate, would be lifted effective 12:01 a.m. on May 31.
"This May 31st will look a lot different than last May 31st," County Executive Rich Fitzgerald.
County officials urged Allegheny County residents to get vaccinated to prevent community spread of COVID-19 in the future and so that the statewide mask mandate can be lifted.
The county also went into vaccination efforts among age groups and how many have been at least partially vaccinated:
- 94% of adults 65 years and older
- 68% of adults 50-64 years of age
- 60% of adults ages 39-49
- 49% of adults ages 20-35
- 25% of teenagers ages 16-19
Dr. Bogen also took time to address COVID-19 vaccine myths, including misinformation about microchips, impacts on fertility and vaccine effectiveness against variants, among numerous others.
