Allegheny County health officials say they're starting to see a post-holiday surge in coronavirus cases and expect the rate of coronavirus infections to increase over the next couple weeks.
Despite a temporary shutdown of bars and restaurants and a statewide stay-at-home order, Allegheny County Health Director Dr. Debra Bogen said she still expects COVID-19 cases to surge.
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"The health department has already received reports of cases who attended Christmas New Year's Eve parties and who have traveled. We're currently investigating five New Year's Eve parties, many that included high school students and young adults with up to 40 attendees, and multiple cases attributed to each of these events already."
She said January could prove to be the worst month yet.
On Thursday, the department reported 664 new cases in the county. That brings the total new cases reported for this week to 2,964. There have also been 90 new deaths reported this week.
In the meantime, Bogen said the county's vaccine rollout is still focused on the first priority group, which is limited to front line health care workers.
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"The Health Departments continues to identify and collect information on health care organizations with employees that are eligible for Phase 1 A," she said.
She said plans are still being created to vaccinate the next group, which will include teachers, police, firefighters, and essential workers.