Pennsylvania residents told to wear masks in public

Pennsylvania residents should wear face coverings in public to help slow the spread of the coronavirus, the governor said Friday as the state recorded another single-day high in new cases and surpassed 100 deaths

Gov. Tom Wolf urged Pennsylvanians to make their own cloth masks and put them on when they go to the grocery store, pharmacy and other places where people congregate. He spoke a few hours before the federal government issued its own recommendation for Americans to wear face coverings. “Wearing a mask will help us cut down the possibility that we might be infecting an innocent bystander, like that grocery store cashier, the pharmacist, or someone stocking shelves,” he said in a video news conference. “These folks are keeping us alive by getting us the supplies we need. We owe it to them to do everything we can to keep them safe. Right now, that means wearing a mask.”

Wolf urged residents to heed his order to remain at home, noting that masks “are not foolproof. So it’s critical our first act is to ask if we really need to leave our house.”

He added that residents should refrain from wearing the short-supply N95 respirator masks and other medicalgrade masks worn by health care workers.

The Department of Health posted guidance on masks on its website.

In other coronavirus developments Friday:

STATE WORKER PAY FREEZE

Pennsylvania plans to stop paying thousands of state workers whose offices have been closed as a result of the pandemic.

Paid leave for about 9,000 state employees who are unable to work remotely will end

April 10, Wolf’s office said.

The pay freeze affects about 12% of the state workforce, though individual agencies were hit much harder, with the state departments of Transportation and Revenue halting pay to more than half their employees. The state will continue to provide health and life insurance benefits.

“This was a difficult decision as our commonwealth faces significant fiscal challenges,” Wolf’s office said in a statement. “The governor chose an alternative to furloughs so each affected employee will keep their health care benefits and has the flexibility to choose from a range of leave options that is best for them.”