As cases grow, Pa. eyes later primary
Pennsylvania is confirming another big increase in coronavirus cases Sunday as lawmakers are drafting legislation to delay the state’s April 28 primary election and relax rules around how mail-in ballots can be processed in advance of polls closing.
Meanwhile, Philadelphia is issuing a stay-at-home order that begins Monday, after Gov. Tom Wolf has already asked residents to stay home, if they can help it.
A look at coronavirus-related developments in Pennsylvania on Sunday:
CASES
Pennsylvania health officials on
Sunday reported more than 100 new cases in Pennsylvania, for a total of more than 470.
Health Secretary Rachel Levine said Saturday that people with mild symptoms do not necessarily need to get tested, and, after calling their doctor, they may be able to stay home, rest and take fluids and anti-fever medication.
Testing is being prioritized for symptomatic people who are health care providers, elderly, very ill or for those who have chronic medical conditions, Levine said.
For most people, the virus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. The vast majority of people recover.
ELECTION
Pennsylvania House State Government Committee Chairman Garth Everett, R-Lycoming, said Sunday that legislation is being drafted to delay the state’s primary from April 28 to June 2.
Everett said he hopes to get the legislation out of his committee on Monday and through the Republicancontrolled chamber this coming week, to send it to the Senate.
Everett said he believes support for it is bipartisan, with overwhelming backing from counties and county election directors.
“We want to get ahead of the game, rather than the Ohio example, where we pull the trigger at the last minute and scramble around,” Everett said. “We want to do it in organized fashion.”
Rep. Kevin Boyle, the committee’s ranking Democrat from Philadelphia, said he expects that Democratic support for the measure is near-universal and believes that Wolf’s office supports it, too.
Wolf, a Democrat, has said that he is working with lawmakers on it, but his office would not say Sunday what sort of changes he will support.
With the virus spreading and Wolf asking residents to stay in their homes, election directors don’t see how they can get ballots printed and poll workers hired and trained to conduct a primary on April 28, Everett said.
Pennsylvania’s fivemonth-old mail-in ballot law lets any voter cast a ballot by mail. But Everett said usage of mail-in ballots will far exceed earlier projections of 20% because of the coronavirus.
To help county election directors process the crush of mail-in ballots, Everett said he wants the legislation to allow them to process the ballots in advance, to verify that the ballot is valid, and then start counting them at 8 a.m. on Election Day.
Boyle said he supports mailing a ballot to each registered voter, and that more steps may be necessary in the coming weeks to help people vote by mail if it becomes clear that allowing an in-person vote on June 2 is a threat to public safety.
STAYING HOME
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney is issuing a stay-athome order to keep people from leaving home, except to get food, seek medical attention, exercise outdoors, go to a job classified as essential or other important errands that involve personal and public safety.
Kenney said it didn’t seem that people were taking his request to stay home serious, and that he wanted “to ramp up the level of concern so people will get it in their heads that this is a serious epidemic and they need to stay home.”