ALLEGHENY COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT DIRECTOR DR. DEBRA BOGEN

Pleas by Allegheny County health officials to continue to social distance, avoid crowds and wear a mask are being ignored, resulting in a steady climb in the number of people testing positive for COVID-19.

Health Department Director Dr. Debra Bogen says the county has a “foundation for a surge.”

“We are back to where we were in mid-January,” she said during a virtual news briefing Wednesday.

Case investigators have traced outbreaks to high school and college sports, small and large gatherings, and workplaces. Bogen says there was one outbreak after a large party attended by children outside of school where no one was wearing a mask or observing social distancing. The outbreak forced the closure of an elementary school, which Bogen did not identify. The presence of a more contagious variant of the virus, first discovered in Great Britain, isn’t helping matters.

Allegheny county’s test positivity rate rose from 6% to 7.7% last week.

“Short of everyone being vaccinated — we are all working as hard as we can to accomplish that — the only way this pandemic will subside is if we all adhere to the tried and true mitigation strategies,” Bogen says.

More 70% of county residents who are 65 and older have received at least one dose of the vaccine. Of those ages 50 to 64, 40% have gotten their first shot.

The state says everyone will be eligible for the vaccine beginning April 19.