New PA COVID Cases Went To Restaurants, Bars, Gyms, State Says

PENNSYLVANIA — A survey of newly infected Pennsylvania residents found an increasing number of people who visited a business before they showed symptoms of coronavirus.

The information comes from the Department of Health, which received an answer on a questionnaire from about half of the 4,536 cases reported between Aug. 16 and Aug. 22.

The number of newly infected individuals who reported going to a business in the two weeks leading up to the onset of symptoms increased from 23 percent to 25 percent of respondents, according to the data.

Of that group, the most commonly visited business was a restaurant (50 percent), followed by a bar (12 percent), gym (12 percent) and salon or barbershop (9 percent). A total of 25 percent had visited some other business.

Gyms showed the sharpest increase in visitation among positive cases from week to week, rising from eight percent to 12 percent.

Additionally, the number of newly infected who attended a mass gathering increased from 12 percent the previous week to nearly 13 percent.

On the bright side, the state's percent positivity rate on all coronavirus tests decreased yet again, down to 3.2 percent from 3.4 percent. Officials are cautiously optimistic about these results.

“This is a testament that our actions are working, but we still have more work to do," Gov. Wolf said in a statement. "The virus is still circulating, and we must continue to wear masks, practice social distancing and avoid large gatherings to keep our numbers low, stop the spread and allow more freedom."

The threshold for what percent positivity rate is considered "concerning" by the WHO is five percent. Nine counties — Columbia (13.5), Armstrong (8.3), Perry (6.9), Northumberland (6.7), Potter (5.9), Beaver (5.7), Dauphin (5.3), Fulton (5.3), and York (5.0) — remain in that bracket.

The state has been analyzing the specific types of businesses which individuals visited before symptoms began for months. They said they began asking more specific questions in regards to the type of business visited on July 13, as more and more individuals mentioned restaurants and bars to contact tracers.

The state's seven day case increase through Aug. 27 was 4,165, a drop from the 4,518 cases reported over the previous seven day period.