Washington County records 5 new cases of COVID-19

Washington County logged five new cases of COVID-19 as of noon Wednesday, according to data released by the Pennsylvania Department of Health.
The county’s total case count is now 176. Greene County held firm at 35 cases. Allegheny County recorded 45 new cases, bringing its total to 2,284. The numbers have been going up in Allegheny County for the last week, and officials have attributed it mostly to younger people who have been traveling out of state or visiting bars and restaurants.
Across the state, there were 495 additional positive cases of the coronavirus and 54 new deaths. All told, 6,515 deaths have been attributed to COVID-19 in the commonwealth.
Also on Wednesday, the administration of Gov. Tom Wolf updated its recommendations for veterinary practices in the state to allow for non-essential services or routine procedures like spaying and neutering.
Veterinary practices have been allowed to stay open throughout the pandemic. On April 2, the commonwealth’s agriculture department waived the requirement that shelters and rescues have cats and dogs spayed or neutered before adoption. Shelters must keep a running list of pets adopted during the pandemic and follow up with pet owners to make sure the procedure has taken place.
Pet owners have 120 days from the time of adoption to have their pet spayed or neutered.
According to Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding, “Veterinarians, technicians and others in their practices are a vitally important part of our agriculture workforce. As we reopen businesses and begin to seek a new normal, we must continue to balance protecting the lives and health of our workforce, and meeting the needs of the people who rely on their services to care for and protect the animals that we all care about.”