All of Pennsylvania now under orders to stay home

All Pennsylvania residents must stay home as much as possible over the coming month to help slow the spread of the coronavirus, Gov. Tom Wolf said Wednesday as he expanded the footprint of the quarantine to include the entire state.

The Democratic governor added 34 counties to his existing stay-at-home order, meaning that residents of all 67 of Pennsylvania’s counties are now asked to stay put unless they have a legitimate reason to go out.

With coronavirus infections continuing to rise dramatically in the state — nearly 1,000 new confirmed cases were reported Wednesday — Wolf pleaded with Pennsylvania’s 12.8 million residents to comply.

“Some of you might might think that a month is too long to go without seeing your friends or family. But if we don’t do everything we can to slow the spread of COVID-19, there are some people who you will never see again,” Wolf said at a video news conference. He warned that thousands could die without strict adherence to social distancing.

Pennsylvania had been an outlier until now. Wolf was the last Northeastern governor to issue a statewide order to stay at home. His counterparts in the border states of Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia and Ohio also enacted earlier statewide orders.

The expanded order will take effect at 8 p.m. Wednesday and last through at least April 30.

Residents may leave their homes for a number of reasons that include working at a business that’s still open, going to the grocery store or pharmacy, visiting a doctor, caring for a relative or heading outside to exercise. Police will continue to focus on informing residents of the order rather than on enforcement, according to the governor’s office.

Separately, schools and nonessential businesses are closed until further notice.

In other coronavirus developments Wednesday: hour and we are doing everything we can to make sure that we’re turning this around as quickly and efficiently as possible.”

Pennsylvania received a record 939,000 claims from March 15 through Tuesday as companies shut down and laid off workers. People trying to file a claim have reported jammed phone lines and interminable hold times.