Non-life-sustaining businesses must close

Governor says enforcement action will start Saturday

HARRISBURG » Gov. Tom Wolf is tightening his directives to businesses to shut down, issuing a dire warning and saying Thursday that all “non-life-sustaining” businesses in Pennsylvania must close their physical locations by 8 p.m. to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Enforcement actions against businesses that do not close their physical locations will begin Saturday, Wolf said in a statement.

“I had hoped for voluntary compliance so our public safety officials could focus on assisting with the crisis,” Wolf said in a video statement. “Unfortunately we have not seen full compliance. We have no time to lose.”

Under Wolf’s order, more than 150 types of businesses have been told to close their physical locations.

Wolf said his order would be enforced by state troopers, local officials, the state Health and Agriculture departments and the Liquor Control Board.

Wolf spokeswoman Lyndsay Kensinger said law enforcement will use discretion as they enforce the governor’s order.

She said in an email that there is a “range of potential actions,” including notifying people about the closure order, warnings, citations and what she termed “mandatory closure.”

Businesses that fail to comply risk citations, fines or license suspensions, and “forfeit their ability to receive any applicable disaster relief and/or may be subject to other appropriate administrative action,” Wolf’s office said in a statement.

Criminal prosecution is also a possibility, with violators subject to fines or imprisonment, Wolf’s office said.

Businesses that remain open must practice social distancing and other measures to protect workers and patrons from contracting the virus, it said.

Allowed to stay open are gas stations, grocery stores, beer distributors, drugstores and building materials stores. Restaurants and bars can continue to offer carryout, delivery and drive-thru food and drink service, but not dinein service.

Businesses under shutdown or

ders range from coal mines to building contractors to many types of manufacturers, plus professional offices including law firms and accounting offices.

Retailers ordered to close include car dealers, clothing stores, furniture stores, florists, office supply stores and lawn and garden stores.

Wolf’s statement came as Pennsylvania reported another big jump in confirmed coronavirus cases and Wolf’s administration worked to help hospitals create more bed spaces in anticipation of a surge in coronavirus patients.

Confirmed coronavirus

cases topped 180, up 40%, according to the state Department of Health. In Philadelphia, officials reported that 20 of the 44 cases there are health care workers, although they were not all exposed at work.

Meanwhile, with schools ordered shut for at least the rest of March and possibly longer, the state Education Department canceled statewide tests for schoolchildren because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Health Secretary Rachel Levine said her agency is asking hospitals, starting Friday, to update their emergency plans to accommodate COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.

That directive includes asking hospitals to postpone elective procedures

and admissions to ensure as many beds as possible are available for coronavirus patients.

The department is also lifting a regulation that prevents a hospital from adding beds without permission and trying to make sure that hospitals have adequate supplies of personal protective equipment and ventilators.

Unemployment compensation filings eased off a bit in Pennsylvania. Wednesday’s claims hit 54,000, a day after reaching 70,000, according to the state Department of Labor and Industry, as businesses close and lay off or furlough workers.

Wolf on Monday ordered a shutdown of nonessential businesses, although some business owners are confused as to whether it includes

them while others have defied it.

The state saw barely 12,000 filings in the entire first week of March, according to federal data.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission is reversing itself and will reopen all 17 of its service plazas starting today. The decision to close them drew heavy criticism from truckers.

Restrooms inside all service plazas will be open 24 hours, and outdoor portable toilets — brought in as replacements — will remain in place at the service plazas for about a week.

Limited food options also will be available at all service plazas, for take-out only. Gas stations and convenience stores inside the service plazas will continue to remain open 24 hours a day.