Health officials in Allegheny County, Penn., say a surge in novel coronavirus cases recently reported around Pittsburgh has been tied to bars, not protests, local media report.
Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald (D) told CBS Pittsburgh the area has seen “some alarming spikes” in cases in recent weeks, adding, “We have seen more cases in the last two days than in the previous two weeks.”
The latest county health data shows more than 2,650 cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, have been counted so far in the region. According to the local CBS affiliate, more than 80 of those cases were reported on Monday alone.
Investigations into some of those cases reportedly found that a chunk of those infected said they travelled to bars and restaurants in the area prior to becoming symptomatic or getting tested.
The station reported that the Allegheny County Health Department said a number of those infected who claimed to have attended protests, on the other hand, was “in the single digits.”
The report comes about a week after a paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research found then that there was “no evidence” that proved a rise in COVID-19 cases seen in various places in the country was due to Black Lives Matter protests that have broken out across the nation in recent weeks, despite speculation otherwise.
