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Exclusive: Health secretary in calls with officials in several local counties

The Pennsylvania Health Department is talking to elected officials in five counties surrounding Pittsburgh to discuss a rising increase in Covid-19 cases, the Business Times has learned.

"In counties that are experiencing increases, the department is doing an in-depth look at those counties and doing direct outreach to the county leadership to discuss the data," Department of Health spokesman Nate Wardle told the Business Times on Tuesday afternoon. "This includes five calls the secretary has scheduled today with Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, Westmoreland and Washington counties."

There’s no word on what actions the local officials would take, if any. Gov. Tom Wolf, at a news conference Monday afternoon, indicated that a county-by-county and targeted approach was best at this stage of the Covid-19 pandemic. Allegheny County, for instance, last week stopped on-premises consumption of alcohol for an indefinite period of time and for a week stopped in-person dining at bars, restaurants, casinos and nightclubs. County officials had tagged the sharp rise in initial cases to bars, restaurants and travel. Wolf and Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine have praised the county’s actions.

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