An Allegheny County Public Health advisory against social gatherings comes as we head into the most social time of the year.
On Tuesday, Dr. Deborah Bogen of the Allegheny County Health Department made the announcement Wednesday in an official public health address issuing a stay-at-home advisory as COVID-19 cases continue to increase throughout the county and the state.
On Wednesday, Allegheny County reported 620 new COVID-19 cases for a 24 hour period.
Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald told the KDKA radio Morning News Thursday that the surge in cases is not the result of more testing being done.
"Dr. Bogen very clearly said that yesterday. That's absolutely not the case. We're still testing not enough, but what we're seeing is our percentage of tests are going up significantly."
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He said the increase in cases is a result of more people spreading the virus through social gatherings.
"We had a very bad time in late October. A lot of Halloween parties. A lot of, and I'll call it COVID fatigue, where people just said 'ya know, I'm just getting tired of this. Let's let our kids get together. Let's let our kids have a sleepover. Let's let our kids have that homecoming dance out in Plum, even though the school says no, we'll do it anyway and we'll rent a place and we'll let them have fun,'" he said.
If Halloween week helped boost the current surge in COVID-19 what will Thanksgiving week do?
"We know Wednesday night is one of the most busy gathering nights of the year," said Fitzgerald. "So we're really asking people to stay home."
He said his family is not having Thanksgiving this year. "My family had a Zoom call last night. My three out-of-town daughters have decided not to come home and after, my wife had said we're not going to have Thanksgiving. So we're not. We're not going to have Thanksgiving this year and that's painful. That's very painful for our family and my wife.
"We know that... let's keep people safe this year and we'll be able to have Thanksgivings for years to come."
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On Wednesday, Dr. Bogen urged residents to rethink their Thanksgiving plans. "I'm also advising residents to cancel their traditional Thanksgiving celebrations that may involve members of other households and instead celebrate virtually. Avoid traveling and limit social gatherings like parties, dinners, barbecues, and other events. County residents are expected to follow the advisory, and if we do, cases will start to drop. If we don't, cases will continue to increase."