Pa. halts school sports, bans indoor dining
Pennsylvania moved Thursday to temporarily halt school sports and other extracurricular activities, close gyms, theaters and casinos, and ban indoor dining at restaurants as state officials respond to the worsening pandemic with a series of new restrictions.
A day after revealing his own COVID-19 diagnosis, Gov. Tom Wolf announced the widely expected clampdown in what he said was an effort to slow the accelerating spread of the coronavirus and prevent hospitals from becoming overrun.
Wolf imposed the tighter restrictions after weeks of exploding case numbers and sharply rising hospitalizations and deaths.
“We all hoped it would not come to this,” he said at a virtual news conference. “The current state of the surge in Pennsylvania, though, will not allow us to wait. We need to slow the spread right now in order to save lives. If we don’t, we’re going to be in big trouble.”
The restrictions will take effect Saturday and will remain until Jan. 4.
They include an indoor gathering limit of 10, an outdoor gathering limit of 50 and capacity restrictions at retail stores.
The temporary ban on sports includes sports at
K-12 public schools, nonpublic schools, private schools and at the club, travel, recreational and intramural levels. Wolf said professional and collegiate sports may continue without spectators.
Churches, synagogues, mosques, temples and other houses of worship were excluded from the indoor gathering limits, but state officials “strongly encouraged” them to avoid in-person gatherings.
Wolf had suggested on Monday that additional pandemic measures were coming, warning that hospitals were under increasing strain and would have to start turning away patients if they become overwhelmed.
He tested positive for the coronavirus a day later
and revealed the diagnosis on Wednesday. He said Thursday he is feeling fine and that his most recent test was negative.
Wolf was found to have the virus after he underwent a routine surveillance test at the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency, where he has been working, according to his office.
Wolf’s spouse, Frances Wolf, tested negative for the virus but will continue to quarantine with him at their home in Mount Wolf, near York, the governor’s office said Thursday.
Republican lawmakers have staunchly opposed most of Wolf ’s restrictions since mid-April and have accused him of abusing his powers. Anticipating that Wolf would announce a new round of restrictions, House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff, R-Centre County, warned him against it Thursday.
“Do not use your executive order pen to devastate lives and livelihoods,” Benninghoff said in a statement.
The virus is taking an increasingly heavy toll on the state, which is now averaging 10,000 new confirmed cases a day and has a record number of COVID-19 patients in the hospital. Pennsylvania reported 248 new deaths
Thursday as the statewide toll passed 12,000.
The Wolf administration had already imposed indoor capacity restrictions on bars and restaurants, limited indoor and outdoor gatherings, mandated the wearing of masks, and required outof-state travelers to test negative for the virus before arrival. Health officials have also begged people to stay at home whenever possible.
But Wolf acknowledged Monday those measures and advisories have not prevented Pennsylvania’s numbers from going in the wrong direction amid the national surge.