Contact Tracing: The Links to The Latest COVID-19 Infections

In Allegheny County, the number of cases linked to restaurants and bars has declined while other activities are on the rise.

July 31, 2020

Richard Cook,

PHOTO BY CHUCK BEARD

A spike in the number of COVID-19 infections traced to bars and restaurants in Allegheny County led to stricter regulations, including the closing of bars that don’t serve food, indoor seating capacities of 25% for establishments that do serve food and limited operating hours. New statistics from the Allegheny County Health Department suggest those restrictions are having an impact.

During the week of June 28 to July 4, 221 COVID-19 cases were traced to patrons or employees of a bar or restaurant. During the week of July 12 to 18, that number had dropped to 127.

“It is still the most commonly mentioned event,” says Allegheny County Health Department Director Dr. Debra Bogen.

The second most commonly mentioned event is parties, which grew from 45 to 72 over the same period.

Bogen says the county was continuing to see new cases from retail employees and people going to gyms or fitness centers, weddings and funerals, and religious services.

Another source of infections has been from locals returning or visitors from other states. Here is the breakdown of where those infections came from, according to the county health department for the week of July 12 to 18.