Six employees in Allegheny County court system test positive for coronavirus

PITTSBURGH — Six employees who work in the Allegheny County court system have tested positive for coronavirus over the past two weeks.

A release by the district court administrator reported the following positive tests:

• 2 employees in the Allegheny County Courthouse (6/25/2020 and 7/2/2020)
• 1 employee in the City-County Building (7/4/2020)
• 1 employee in PreTrial Services (6/30/2020)
• 1 employee at the MDJ offices (7/5/2020)
• 1 employee in the Family Division who was working from home (6/30/2020)

Magisterial District Court 05-2-06, which is in Penn Hills, will be closed for 2 weeks beginning Monday due to a positive COVID-19 test. Cases at that location will be postponed or otherwise rescheduled.

Additionally, three employees of the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office have also tested positive for COVID-19.

Here’s the full statement from the district court administrator:

“The following is the process that has been implemented when a court employee tests positive.

The Allegheny County Health Department traces every case involving a positive COVID-19 test in Allegheny County. They receive notification directly from the testing entity and conduct their own tracing. If someone tests positive, he or she will get a call from the Health Department and will be asked about any contact that they have had with others. The Health Department then, in accordance with CDC guidelines, notifies and quarantines persons who were a “close contact” with a person with a positive test (generally within 6 feet of the person for 15 minutes or more). This process occurs independently of the Court.

The Court also does its own independent and separate contact tracing. Because the Court is in the unique position of requiring the public to appear in our courtrooms, the Court takes a more conservative approach to protect both employees, attorneys, and members of the public. The Court has instructed and will instruct employees to stay at home or work from home even when they do not meet the “close contact” definition under CDC guidelines. The Court may instruct employees to stay at home or work from home even when they report being a further distance away from someone for a lesser period of time. Further, the Court also considers and traces cases involving other than a positive test by an employee - for example, when an employee reports close exposure to a relative or someone else who tests positive, even when the employee has not tested positive or exhibited symptoms themselves. We also, of course, ask all employees to stay home who exhibit symptoms, even if they have not had a positive test.

The Court goes beyond the “close contact” CDC guidelines and each situation is evaluated on a case-by-case basis with all circumstances being considered including distance, duration, size of room, whether masks were worn, etc., to determine who should remain home and who should be notified. The notification includes court employees, attorneys and others. To date, none of the employees who have been asked to stay home out of an abundance of caution have tested positive and many have tested negative.

For privacy reasons, we do not reveal the names of persons who have tested positive or exhibited symptoms or provide identifying information.

On Thursday, all 4 Adult Probation Community Resources Centers were closed. This was not because of any positive tests or symptoms but rather was a proactive action taken as a precaution because of the rising amount of cases in the County. The probation officers assigned to those Centers are able to work from home. The Probation Liaison office has always been open and remains open.

To date we have the following numbers and dates of results of positive tests:

• 2 employees in the Allegheny County Courthouse (6/25/2020 and 7/2/2020)
• 1 employee in the City-County Building (7/4/2020)
• 1 employee in PreTrial Services (6/30/2020)
• 1 employee at the MDJ offices (7/5/2020)
• 1 employee in the Family Division who was working from home (6/30/2020)

In addition, we had one positive test in May when the Courts were closed.

At this point, we are aware of two attorneys who work in the Allegheny County Courthouse who have tested positive but cannot provide information on attorneys.

The Formal Arraignment Office is open but operating in multiple rooms.

Magisterial District Court 05-2-06 will be closed for 2 weeks beginning Monday July 6, 2020, due to a positive COVID-19 test related to that Office. Cases will be postponed or otherwise rescheduled. I have attached yesterday's Court Order that sets forth how filings during that period will be handled.

While we have been notifying persons beyond the CDC requirements, we are currently working on a plan to communicate positive test results to the Bar on an ongoing basis while maintaining the confidentiality of the person who tested positive."

Christopher H. Connors

District Court Administrator

Fifth Judicial District of Pennsylvania Administrative Office

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