Drive-through coronavirus testing sites are growing more common as communities try to get their coronavirus transmission under control. Without continued social distancing, federal estimates suggest the virus will continue to spread widely.
Brett Carlsen / Getty Images
Brett Carlsen / Getty Images
Drive-through coronavirus testing sites are growing more common as communities try to get their coronavirus transmission under control. Without continued social distancing, federal estimates suggest the virus will continue to spread widely.
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(State College) — Governor Tom Wolf announced Friday that 24 counties in northwest and north-central parts of the state will be the first to reopen in a limited capacity starting May 8.
Those counties are Bradford, Cameron, Centre, Clarion, Clearfield, Clinton, Crawford, Elk, Erie, Forest, Jefferson, Lawrence, Lycoming, McKean, Mercer, Montour, Northumberland, Potter, Snyder, Sullivan, Tioga, Union, Venango, and Warren.
Wolf said the main factors in deciding these counties can move to the “yellow” phase are low per-capita case counts, contact tracing and testing capabilities, and “appropriate population density to contain community spread.”
Last week, Governor Wolf detailed the color-coded plan the state will use for the phased reopening. Counties will move through red, yellow and green phases as restrictions are gradually lifted.
Currently, the entire state is under the “red” phase, where the most restrictions on businesses and individuals remain in place.
As the 24 counties move into the “yellow” phase next Friday, some businesses will be able to reopen while adhering to safety guidelines, although telework and masks are still encouraged and gyms and theaters won’t be allowed to open.
Ultimately, the “green” phase lifts nearly all restrictions, but safety protocols like wearing masks will still be required.
“Every human-to-human contact is a chance for the virus to spread, so more contacts mean a higher likelihood of an outbreak,” Wolf said in a statement Friday. “If we see an outbreak occur in one of the communities that has been moved to yellow, we will need to take swift action, and revert to the red category until the new case count falls again. So, Pennsylvanians living in a county that has been moved to the yellow category should continue to strongly consider the impact of their actions.”
Centre County Commissioner Michael Pipe said in a tweet earlier this week that social distancing methods have been effective in flattening the curve in the county, but said reopening should be a process “not as flipping a switch but as turning up a dial.”
As of Friday, the Department of Health reports 46,971 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Pennsylvania, and among them, 2,354 have died.
Since Governor Wolf announced a statewide shutdown in March and ordered all non-life sustaining businesses to close their physical locations, unemployment has soared with more than 1.6 million new claims filed.
Wolf on April 9 ordered all K-12 schools to remain closed for the rest of the academic year, forcing teachers, students and parents to adapt and leaving some in limbo where online learning may be inaccessible.
Penn State’s University Park campus deserted as college students transition to remote learning amid coronavirus. (Photo courtesy of Jinny Kim)
Even as some businesses may be allowed to reopen under the state’s new phased plan, employers may have a hard time getting their employees back to work, due to safety and finance concerns. Many small businesses are still waiting for federal and state assistance to arrive, as those programs saw overwhelming numbers of applications, resulting in reports of systems crashing across the country.
Starting today, outdoor recreational venues and activities like golf courses, marinas, privately owned campgrounds and guided fishing trips are allowed to reopen while following safety guidelines. Construction is also resuming Friday.
The Wolf administration faced some pushback over its mitigation plans, with many business owners questioning whether the business shutdown waiver program was done fairly.
On Thursday, Pennsylvania Auditor General Eugene Depasquale announced his office will conduct an audit into that program, although there’s no clear timeline for when that will happen.
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