School Masking Required Across PA As COVID Cases Rise

Pittsburgh PA

02 September, 2021

5:51 PM

Description

By PublicSource, Public Source September 1, 2021 PublicSource has been tracking COVID-19's spread on a daily basis since March 2020. More than a year later, in an effort to direct our resources into enterprise reporting on the pandemic and other important issues, we will cover the Allegheny County Health Department's weekly briefing on Wednesdays and update the numbers on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. We may adjust as the prevalence of the coronavirus ebbs and flows. If you have questions or comments, please email PublicSource's managing editor [email protected]. With COVID hospitalizations and cases rising as more students return to school buildings, masks will now be required indoors regardless of vaccination status at all Pennsylvania PreK-12 school buildings, early learning programs and child care centers. The new order by the Pennsylvania secretary of health will take effect at 12:01 a.m. Sept. 7. The decision is a change of course from early August when Gov. Tom Wolf said he wouldn't require masks in schools. In recent weeks, tensions have boiled over between parents and school district leaders regarding masking and parent choice, both locally and nationwide. Read more here. Allegheny County released COVID-19 vaccination data by ZIP codes, with the county's top health official saying they would use the information to combat inequity in the response to the virus. County Health Director Dr. Debra Bogen said the county would update the data every month. Below is an interactive map showing the percentage of residents aged 10 or older who were at least partially vaccinated as of Aug. 14. ZIP codes with the highest vaccination rates included Baldwin, Wexford, Upper St. Clair and Pittsburgh neighborhoods Squirrel Hill and Lawrenceville. The areas with the lowest vaccination rates in the county included Rankin, Braddock and part of McKeesport, each under 45%. Allegheny County saw a slight increase in vaccinations in the past two weeks, while cases and hospitalizations continued to rise, Health Department Director Dr. Debra Bogen said in a Wednesday briefing. More than 6,000 county residents per week received the vaccine in the past two weeks, Bogen said. She expressed optimism that the uptick in vaccinations would continue following the Food and Drug Administration's decision to grant full approval to the two-dose Pfizer vaccine on Aug. 23. Cases and hospitalizations are still rising, with the county recording an average of 225 new cases each day. "The number of cases of COVID-19 are increasing – more slowly than late July and early August, but certainly increasing," Bogen said. She also noted that deaths in the county have increased amid the spread of the Delta variant. State data shows 22 people in the county have died from COVID-19 in the past two weeks. The county also released a breakdown of vaccine uptake in Allegheny County by ZIP code and race, providing the most comprehensive view yet of where vaccination efforts are lagging in and around Pittsburgh. The report identifies Braddock as having the lowest vaccination rate of any ZIP code in the county, with 42% of 7,721 residents vaccinated. ZIP codes for Duquesne, Manchester, the Central Business District and Mckeesport had the next lowest rates, all of them having less than 44% of their populations vaccinated. "Based on these ZIP codes, we will work with community and vaccine partners to ensure that vaccines are easily accessible and available," Bogen said. County Executive Rich Fitzgerald reported that of the 59 school districts in Pennsylvania to mandate masks upon the return of students to the classroom, 30 are located in Allegheny County –– meaning just under 70% of the county's 43 districts have mandated masking. Fitzgerald confirmed the health department has the authority to mandate masks in local school districts, but that the county has chosen instead to "strongly recommend" school boards impose them. "The other ones that aren't in yet, we hope the boards take action to protect the students as they come back," Fitzgerald said. — By PublicSource intern Chris Hippensteel Resources COVID vaccine resources in the Pittsburgh region Housing and mental health supports amid COVID in Allegheny County Allegheny County's COVID-19 resource page with links to information on vaccines, testing sites and quarantine basics Allegheny County's map of vaccination sites (For more information or help with scheduling an appointment through Allegheny County's Area Agency on Aging, residents can call 412-350-4234.) Pennsylvania's COVID-19 vaccine rollout page This article was produced by PublicSource.org, a nonprofit news organization serving the Pittsburgh region. PublicSource tells stories for a better Pittsburgh. Sign up for their free email newsletters at publicsource.org/newsletters.