Pa. officials relax restrictions in Pittsburgh region

13 counties slated to move into yellow phase

HARRISBURG — State officials will allow 13 counties in the Pittsburgh region to ease coronavirus related restrictions on businesses and residents next week, a coveted step toward reopening that took effect Friday in much of northwest and north-central Pennsylvania.

Gov. Tom Wolf announced Friday that Allegheny, Armstrong, Bedford, Blair, Butler, Cambria, Fayette, Fulton, Greene, Indiana, Somerset, Washington and Westmoreland counties will be able to move into the “yellow phase” of his tiered reopening plan on May 15.

They will join two dozen counties previously given the go-ahead to loosen some restrictions.

“We are closely monitoring the 24 counties in the yellow phase, and we will reimpose restrictions if danger arises,” Mr. Wolf said at a Friday news conference. “We’re also watching other counties and are moving them into the yellow phase as soon as we can.”

Not included in Friday’s announcement is Beaver County, where a COVID-19 outbreak inside a long-term care facility has left at least 71 people dead. U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb, D-Mt. Lebanon, is calling for a federal investigation.

In March, Mr. Wolf shut down much of the state’s economy and began ordering residents to stay home in an effort to mitigate the coronavirus. This week, he extended his stay-at-home and business closure orders until at least June 4 for the rest of the state.

Wolf said Friday the Department of Health is monitoring other counties that might move to the yellow phase soon, though the hard-hit southeast is likely to be one of the last regions allowed to do so.

Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald said after the governor’s announcement he was not surprised the county was headed to yellow status.

“I had a sense that we were moving in this direction,” he said in an interview. “Even the governor said last week that if our numbers remained good, we’d be moved from red to yellow.”

He said he credits “the folks here in Southwestern Pa. who have really taken to the advice the state and the governor have given” on staying safe.

Though the county can’t reopen for a week, Mr. Fitzgerald said that will be a week for eligible business “to prepare and also a week to remind people this isn’t the end. There’s still more to the process” before we ever get to green, including maintaining personal social distancing, wearing masks, washing hands and staying safe.

“The challenge is still there,” he said.

To enter the yellow phase,

counties have to meet benchmarks set by the state. That includes ramping up testing and contact tracing in order to identify and quarantine new cases before they become outbreaks. State officials also set a target for counties to see fewer than 50 new confirmed cases per 100,000 people in a two-week period, though they’ve emphasized that’s just one measure they’re considering.

The administration is also using a tool developed by Carnegie Mellon University to decide which regions can ease restrictions.

In the yellow phase, the stay-at-home order for residents is lifted, although they must still follow federal and state guidelines for social distancing and limit gatherings to fewer than 25 people.

Gyms, spas, hair and nail salons, casinos and theaters must remain closed, while restaurants can still only offer carry-out and delivery. Other businesses can resume in-person services, though companies that can telework must continue to do so.

Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto issued a statement after the announcement Friday:

“I want to thank Governor Wolf for recognizing all that the greater Pittsburgh community has done to mitigate the spread of this pandemic, and allowing us to take initial steps toward reopening our city and our economy. But we are far from beating this — Pittsburgh residents, workers and visitors need to keep focusing on social distancing, not leaving home if they are sick, wearing masks, washing hands and generally just being smart about fighting this stillspreading disease.

“We owe it to our city’s heroic medical personnel and first responders to keep being vigilant, and we must do much more to test the greater population and to contact trace anyone who has tested positive for the virus. I have offered the assistance of the City of Pittsburgh to help implement these needed testing and tracing measures.”

After the announcement the state would not allow Beaver County to move to yellow, the Beaver County commissioners and the county’s district attorney said Friday they would act as if they were moving to yellow, and they would not enforce the red restrictions starting May 15, according to the Post-Gazette’s news partner, KDKA-TV.

“I think they’re jeopardizing lives,” Mr. Wolf said about the county officials’ statements. “In our opinion, the time is not right. I think it’s soon in Beaver County’s case, but it’s not right today to announce they’re ready to reopen.

“If they go ahead and do that [and don’t enforce the red restrictions], they’re taking a chance with the lives of residents and citizens of Beaver County. I think I’d be a little careful in doing that,” he said.

Beaver County officials are upset because without the massive outbreak at the Brighton Rehabilitation and Wellness Center nursing home, the county would have fewer cases, for example, than Butler County, which was moved to yellow.

Beaver County Commissioner Jack Manning was still upset Friday night talking about the governor’s decision not to include Butler in the move to yellow, even though he had learned about it a day earlier.

“The governor’s aide told us that our numbers are starting to go down now, and that is good. But I told him our numbers are going down because there’s hardly anyone left [who has not tested positive at Brighton] to bring the numbers up in that facility,” he said.

“It just doesn’t make sense, and I don’t know what [Mr. Wolf] thinks he’s going to achieve other than following some arbitrary algorithm marker by someone at CMU,” he said of the Carnegie Mellon University computer model the state is using to help it decide when counties can reopen. “As you can tell, I’m still pretty upset.”

He said he and the commission and the district attorney are unified in agreeing to start operating as if they are in the yellow on May 15, in defiance of the governor’s order.

“Our position is that if you’re one of those businesses [that could open in yellow] and you’re following the CDC’s guidelines about opening, we’re not going to go after you,” Mr. Manning said. “We’re not going to encourage people to do that, but we’re not going to stop them.

“We’ll just have to see if that creates any kind of battle with Harrisburg,” he said.

State Department of Health spokesman Nate Wardle said the state is aware of the significant number of Beaver County cases at nursing homes.

“We are looking at where cases are coming from, such as whether they are in congregate care settings, work facilities, etc.,” he wrote in an emailed answer to questions after the news conference. “However, we also know that those employees, whether of nursing homes, longterm care facilities, workplaces, etc., must go back into the community. We cannot just remove the numbers from these settings from the county counts and act as if they do not exist.

“In addition, if we are having large outbreaks at facilities in a county, and the county were to move to yellow, it could increase the risk of exposure to the general population,” he wrote.

Butler County commissioners welcomed Mr. Wolf’s announcement but urged caution.

“On behalf of our businesses, we’re happy many of them will be able to reopen and ask that they do so safely,” Commissioner Leslie Osche said in a statement. “But there are still those who cannot open yet and we will continue to push forward until everybody is open and the economy is restored.”

Commissioner Kim Geyer added that while she’s “very pleased” to have businesses reopen, “We’re still going to have to balance safety as well as find a path forward that enables us all to live on a daily basis.”

Democratic state Rep. Pam Snyder, who represents Greene, Fayette and Washington counties, said in a statement, “I’m pleased the governor listened to my concerns about not being included in last week’s announcement and took a close look at our region. With today’s announcement, this means that many businesses which were previously closed or whose operations were significantly limited will now be able to reopen, provided they follow the health and social distancing guidelines.

“The last thing we want to do is to go back to red, so it’s vital that each one of us follows the necessary precautions to protect each other as we continue to move forward toward the green designation.”

Somerset County Commissioner Pamela TokarIckes said “Somerset County’s residents are mindful of the precautions that must continue as we learn to live with the virus, but local businesses impacted by the shutdown are desperate to begin the county’s economic recovery. It will be a fine balance, but we are ready to move forward.”