by PublicSource Reporters
As the Pittsburgh region prepares to shift to the yellow phase of opening on Friday, area elected officials and business leaders on Tuesday provided guidance on reopening and encouraged residents and businesses to stay the course with infection prevention practices.
“As we open up our offices, as we open up retail, as we open up childcare,” Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald said, “we need to make sure that in a dense urban setting, which we are … that we make sure there’s a great level of cooperation.”
In an online press conference, Fitzgerald and other local leaders affirmed the Pennsylvania Department of Health’s directive for businesses to follow guidelines on mitigating the spread of COVID-19 where in-person work is necessary. These include cleaning of high-touch areas, preventing large gatherings and providing employees with access to masks and the ability to wash hands.
Officials repeatedly emphasized the need for businesses to follow the state’s directive to continue teleworking when possible.
“Just because people can come back to work doesn’t mean you have to come back to work,” Mayor Bill Peduto said. Businesses, he added, should be doing “whatever you need in order to make your company successful while minimizing the number of people that will be gathering in our largest, densest areas of Western Pennsylvania.”
Peduto asked employers to consider staggering shifts and work days to minimize the number of employees present at any given time at a physical location.
Allegheny County is among 24 Southwestern Pennsylvania counties expected to move to phase yellow of reopening on May 15.
Stefani Pashman, CEO of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, directed business and toward readypittsburgh.com, an online resource for guidance on the move to yellow.
Dr. Debra Bogen, director of the Allegheny County Health Department, emphasized the need for anyone with COVID-19 symptoms to remain home and get tested. Bogen said residents should only go out for essential trips and to continue wearing face masks and washing hands and surfaces.
Allegheny County reported four new COVID-19 deaths Tuesday, bringing the county total to 127. Another 15 COVID-19 cases were also reported, bringing the county total to 1,526. The number of past and present hospitalizations is 280.
In Allegheny County, white people represent 55% of all cases; Black people represent 20%; Asian people represent 2% and the races of the remaining cases are unknown.
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Pittsburgh-area leaders give safety guidance as region prepares for shift to yellow
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