Allegheny County Health Department offers to assist WPIAL with covid-19 restrictions

By: Chris Harlan
Thursday, August 20, 2020 | 3:57 PM

The WPIAL and Allegheny County Health Department will meet Friday to discuss plans for potentially playing high school sports this fall.

Those talks will include the county’s 50-person limit on outdoor gatherings, a restriction that has school administrators concerned Allegheny County football teams won’t be able to host games.

“We don’t exactly know what will come out of that (discussion),” WPIAL executive director Amy Scheuneman said.

A statement issued Thursday by an ACHD spokesperson said the 50-person limit applies to sports and “is intended to limit the spread of covid-19 in our community. That is particularly true for groups of youth who are often asymptomatic while having the virus and may not realize that they are spreading it.”

However, the ACHD noted that guidance from the WPIAL and PIAA already includes “extensive protocols” to address covid-19.

“The Allegheny County Health Department is looking at those protocols and will work with WPIAL to ensure safe events in the county meet COVID guidelines while also allowing sporting events to occur with appropriate measures in place,” the ACHD spokesperson said.

The ACHD said more information was expected Friday.

Small-school football games typically have more than 50 players, not counting coaches, trainers, officials and other game-day personnel. Some large schools have close to 80 players or more on one roster.

The WPIAL had requested a variance from the county health department to increase the number of individuals allowed at interscholastic contests.

The governor has a 250-person limit statewide on outdoor gatherings, but Allegheny County ordered a strict 50-person limit locally when covid-19 cases increased in early July.

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.