Coronavirus cases see slow increase in Bucks, Montgomery

Since moving to the state’s final reopening phase near the end of June, Bucks and Montgomery counties have seen a modest increase in new COVID-19 infections, state data show.

A sharp increase of COVID-19 cases in the southwestern and south central parts of the state prompted Gov. Tom Wolf to ramp up some business restrictions last week.

Wolf said a statewide order was appropriate because health officials know more about the virus now than when the state debuted its reopening plan a few months ago. Bucks and Montgomery counties were among the last to move to green, on June 26.

The changes announced Wednesday mostly saw the number of total indoor customers allowed at restaurants halved and a complete ban on alcohol sales in bars or nightclubs with no food service.

Wolf and Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine said out-of-state travel and a lack of national coordination among states reopening helped drive the steep increase in recent weeks.

Allegheny County saw one of the largest increases in new cases in the state, rising from about 2,300 total cases on June 25 to just over 5,600 cases as of Wednesday, according to data from the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

The county had a seven-day average of just 28.4 cases in June, but that rate increased sevenfold to 200 cases as of last week.

Over that same period, Bucks County had a total of 500 new cases, taking its seven-day average from 21.6 cases to 31.7 cases.

Montgomery County has seen a slightly higher increase in new cases than Bucks County, about 700 cases over the three-week period.

The seven-day average new case rate in Montgomery County, a county that regularly saw the most new cases for weeks in the early days of the pandemic, has seen almost no change.

Bucks County Commissioners said last week’s statewide order caught them by surprise, and county Health Department Director Dr. David Damsker said the order needed clarification before he would know its impacts on local businesses.

While the order may seem simple on paper, Damsker said he had several questions about what the state considered “food service” in a bar.

“There’s some questions that need to be asked ... if I was the owner of a bar, I would be asking those questions because I would want to try to stay open in some way,“ Damsker said Thursday.

Although many businesses in Bucks County have complied with health and safety rules, Damsker said the decision from Wolf targeting bars and restaurants was not arbitrary.

“The governor didn’t just make this up. There’s real risk to alcohol being served in bar areas where social distancing is not occurring,” he said.

Allegheny County officials ordered bars and restaurants to cease on-site alcohol sales effective June 30, just three weeks after being moved to green.

Just a few days after that order took effect, the county ordered all bars and restaurants to shutdown for one week after more than 200 new cases were reported on July 2.

That order was followed by new guidance from the county on July 10 that allowed those businesses to reopen, but still prohibiting alcohol sales.

It is currently unclear how long the new restrictions will be in place.

The state initially used several metrics to decide which counties would reopen, but no specific information has since been released about what conditions could move a county backward.

Population density, new cases per 100,000 residents and several other factors were included in the state’s initial reopening plan.

Damsker said Thursday he hoped the state would not focus on any single statistic, but added the state has not shared its exact metrics or how they are currently weighing one against the other.