Life's still on hold in our state, but maybe for not much longer.
Gov. Tom Wolf announced Monday afternoon that Pennsylvania's stay-at-home mandate has been pushed back from April 30 to at least May 8, though he also left open for the first time the option to relax restrictions at that point in counties where coronavirus cases stay low.
“We are taking small steps toward regaining a degree of normalcy in Pennsylvania,” Wolf spoke Monday in Harrisburg, before adding, “This is not going to be resuming operations as they were in February. We still don’t have a vaccine, we still don’t have an antibody test, and we still don’t have a way to cure COVID-19. Without continuing to take precautions, we will all see a resurgence of this deadly virus. So we cannot relax.”
No specifics were offered regarding the gradual reopening, including which parts of the state might be opened first. The eastern part, particularly Philadelphia, has been hit far harder by the virus than the western, where Pittsburgh has been among the most efficient cities in the U.S. at managing it.
“We’ll do it by region," Wolf said. "And that means that if we opened in Cameron County, for example, that does not mean that we’re closing or ending the restrictions, the things that people ought to do in Philadelphia."
Cameron, in north-central Pennsylvania, is the state's least populated county.
I’m working toward a goal date of May 8 to start easing restrictions in Pennsylvania.
My team is listening to experts, following the data, and prioritizing keeping people safe. pic.twitter.com/XNnS6d2atD
— Governor Tom Wolf (@GovernorTomWolf) April 20, 2020
I wrote about a gradual reopening for the Sunday Grind.
Here's more from Wolf's session from the Harrisburg Patriot-News.
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