
Lebanon officials are set to vote on reopening today. Officials from Dauphin, Franklin and Schuylkill counties later backed down.
TOM WOLF FOR PRESIDENT SERIES
In a series of letters and tweets, the officials, including state lawmakers and county commissioners, begged Wolf to allow local businesses to reopen and better position themselves to survive the crisis. But that fact didn’t stop local leaders from announcing plans to reopen businesses anyway – with or without Wolf’s blessing. The number of people sickened with the virus in Lancaster, Lebanon, Dauphin, Franklin and Schuylkill counties disqualifies them from entering the yellow phase. Yellow counties’ gyms, hair salons, and schools must remain closed, and gatherings of more than 25 people are prohibited.Įven still, yellow is the distinction several other Central and Eastern Pennsylvania counties are clamoring for.Ī key factor that determines whether a county qualifies for yellow privileges is whether it has fewer than 50 new reported coronavirus cases per 100,000 residents over a period of 14 days. Counties that eventually make it to the green phase will ask businesses and individuals to follow Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and State Department of Health guidelines for limiting the spread of the virus but will otherwise have no restrictions. Another 12 counties will move into yellow on May 22.Ĭounties in the red phase of Wolf’s reopening plan are still under lockdown, with stay-at-home orders in place and all but ‘essential’ businesses closed.

Twenty-four others in the Northern half of the state entered yellow May 8. Thirteen counties in Southwestern Pennsylvania moved into the yellow phase May 15. In these places, many businesses may resume in-person operations, and residents may leave their homes so long as they take precautions. Wolf has already moved 37 Pennsylvania counties into what he calls the ‘yellow’ phase of reopening. But for those in the Southeast worried about a resurgence, "they’re not wrong, either." "When you have someone in that area of the state that are upset that they are unable to work, they’re not wrong," Rubin said. That includes Allegheny County, the rural "T" and the South, Central and Southwestern parts of the state. "Largely the rest of the state has had a pretty deceptively, sort of minimal experience with COVID," Rubin said. The Philadelphia area as far west as Lancaster, Berks and Dauphin counties, and north to the Lehigh Valley have seen some of the worst outbreaks in Pennsylvania, he said. David Rubin, director of PolicyLab at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, which has been tracking the differences in the outbreak across individual regions of the country. "Largely when you look across the state, the hardest hit area has been the Southeast of Pennsylvania," said Dr. Officials in Delaware and Bucks counties, however, have asked Wolf to exclude their nursing-home populations when he eventually rates their readiness.

The virus is still raging across Southeastern Pennsylvania, and not even Trump is arguing that Philadelphia and its suburbs are ready to reopen.

It all depends what criteria are used to determine whether the coronavirus still poses a threat. We wondered whether the statewide stay-at-home order Wolf issued on April 1 still applies to places hardly impacted by the deadly disease. "You have areas of Pennsylvania that are barely affected and to keep them closed," Trump told a crowd of workers from Owens & Minor, a company that manufactures and distributes masks, gloves and gowns to health care workers, on May 14. Tom Wolf for keeping parts of Pennsylvania closed that the president thinks are no longer threatened by the coronavirus. The collective damage estimate to public infrastructure to date is currently estimated at $117 million.After touring an Allentown warehouse filled with protective medical equipment, President Donald Trump criticized Gov. The governor's request includes a major disaster declaration for Individual Assistance for Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, Philadelphia, and York counties Public Assistance for Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Fulton, Montgomery, Philadelphia, and York counties and for the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program to be made available to all 67 counties of the Commonwealth. "I am requesting a federal disaster declaration because Pennsylvanians and our communities need and deserve critical support as they recover from significant damages to their homes and public infrastructure," Gov. Governor Tom Wolf has requested President Joe Biden declare a major disaster in Pennsylvania following last's week severe storms.īRIDGEPORT, Pennsylvania (WPVI) - Governor Tom Wolf has requested President Joe Biden declare a major disaster in Pennsylvania following last's week severe storms.
