The Times Herald (Norristown, PA)
Governor extending stay-at-home order to two more counties
HARRISBURG » Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration reported more coronavirusrelated deaths in Pennsylvania on Wednesday and ordered residents of Lehigh and Northampton counties to stay home, with few exceptions, as more of the state is put under the directive in an effort to slow the virus’ spread.
Wolf’s office said the order will take effect at 8 p.m. for the two counties, home to more than 670,000 people.
In a video news conference Wednesday, Wolf urged residents to “step up”and do their part to help stop the spread of coronavirus and said everyone “must all act as if we have it” to avoid spreading it further.
While Wolf acknowledged that business owners have borne a huge brunt of the shutdowns, Wolf also declined to offer any sort of projection for when he thought the state could start getting back to normal.
“We’re going to recover from this crisis, but first we must get through it,” Wolf said.
Health Secretary Rachel Levine said the administration expects a surge of patients in the coming weeks. Cases are doubling every two to three days, and the administration is putting a heavy emphasis on buying time to help get the state’s health care system ready for that growing flood of patients, Levine said.
Before Wednesday, Wolf’s orders covered eight counties, including Philadelphia, Allegheny County and Philadelphia’s four heavily populated suburban counties. The 10 counties account for half of Pennsylvania’s 12.8 million residents and are home to nearly 80% of the state’s confirmed coronavirus
School staff pack grab-and-go meals for distribution to students and families at John H. Webster Elementary School in Philadelphia, Wednesday, March 25.
cases, as of Wednesday.
The order requires residents to stay home, except for certain allowable travel or errands for health or safety purposes or going to a job designated as part of a life-sustaining employment sector.
Also Wednesday, the state Department of Health said it had confirmed 276 more cases of coronavirus — an increase of one-third — and four more deaths for a total of 11 statewide.
Meanwhile, the state House of Representatives and Senate have resumed voting sessions in Harrisburg to consider a package of coronavirus-related legislation, including delaying the primary election and marshaling $50 million in aid to help hospitals, nursing homes and emergency response teams afford masks, gloves and other personal protective gear.
A look at other coronavirus-related developments in Pennsylvania:
CASES
With the cases confirmed by the state Department of Health, there are now more than 1,120 cases in 44 counties.
New deaths were reported in Luzerne, Philadelphia and Delaware counties.
Delaware County said one victim was an 85-year-old man and the other was an 86-year-old woman. Both had been hospitalized.
JOBLESS CLAIMS
More than 400,000 Pennsylvanians filed for unemployment compensation benefits last week amid a tidal wave of coronavirus-related business shutdowns, eclipsing the high-point during the recession a decade ago, the state’s top organized labor leader said Wednesday.
Rick Bloomingdale, president of the Pennsylvania chapter of the AFLCIO, said Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration briefed him on last week’s figures as the union urges Wolf and lawmakers to expand unemployment compensation benefits to replace a full salary, rather than a half salary.
Wolf last Thursday ordered a statewide shutdown of all “non-life-sustaining” businesses in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus and buy time for the state’s health care system to expand staffing, equipment and bed space.
Even before that order, unemployment compensation filings in Pennsylvania and many other states had skyrocketed, underscoring how many businesses had already closed or shed workers.
A review of weekly data going back to 1987 shows a high-point of 61,000 in early 2010, when the effects of the Great Recession were taking hold.
The agency would not release last week’s figures to The Associated Press, saying the federal government has embargoed the figures until Thursday.
ELECTION LEGISLATION
A measure to delay Pennsylvania’s primary election by five weeks, potentially past the spike of the state’s spreading coronavirus cases, could reach Wolf’s desk on Wednesday.
It passed the House of Representatives on Wednesday afternoon and went to the Senate, which planned to pass it. Wolf, a Democrat, will sign it, his office said.
Under the bill, Pennsylvania would hold its primary election on June 2, instead of April 28, when the state could be in the thick of a surge of coronavirus cases.
In addition to delaying the primary date, the legislation would give county election offices a head start on processing and tabulating mailin ballots, newly allowed under a five-month-old election law.
SCHOOLS LEGISLATION
The House voted unanimously to ensure teachers and other school employees continue to be paid, to endorse the waiver of the normal 180-day minimum number of instructional days, and to require schools to make a good faith effort to continue instruction during the building closures and submit that plan to the Education Department.
ENFORCEMENT
Pennsylvania State Police issued warnings Tuesday to 17 more “nonlife-sustaining” businesses that failed to comply with Wolf’s directive to shut down.
State police issued a total of 44 warnings, but no citations, during the first two days of enforcement, the agency announced Wednesday. The greatest number of warnings, nine, were issued by a state police troop that covers four counties in southwestern Pennsylvania.
Wolf has ordered all nonessential businesses to shutter their physical locations to help slow the spread of the virus.
PITTSBURGH TRASH PICKUP
Sanitation workers were sent home for the day in Pittsburgh as city and union officials met to clear up precautionary instructions and other issues that drew protests from those workers Wednesday morning.
Several workers complained that they had not been given enough protective gear. Mayor Bill Peduto’s office said the city has provided wipes for equipment, cleaned trucks and buildings, provided gloves and protective glasses as well as plastic gloves to go under the larger outer gloves if workers wanted them.
Collections are expected to resume on Thursday.