Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf unveiled a new color-coded plan Wednesday night, with his Health Secretary, Dr. Rachel Levine, to help guide the re-opening of the Commonwealth amid the Coronavirus pandemic.
The governor said that Pennsylvania will reopen in 3 stages, adding: “We’ll use the health criteria in the CMU modeling tool to determine phases. There are going to be 3 phases: red, yellow, and green.”
Currently, all of Pennsylvania is still in the red phase, with only life-sustaining businesses allowed to stay open, and the stay-at-home order currently in effect. Wolf says that as different regions and counties prove that they’re ready, they can move onto the next phase. One of the guidelines is that the population should have an average of less than 60 cases per 100,000 individuals over the course of 14 days in order to return to work.
Once counties advance to the “yellow phase”, some of the restrictions can be lifted, including parts of the business closure order. He adds though, that the yellow phase will still put a limit on “high risk activities” - keeping school buildings closed, restricting restaurants to curbside pickup or delivery, only allowing retail to reopen with protections in place for workers and customers, preventing large social gatherings, and businesses continuing to prioritize telework or abide by safety guidelines if telework isn’t available.
If a region then moves onto the green phase, remaining aspects of the stay-at-home order will be lifted, but will still require Pennsylvanians to adhere to CDC and Department of Health guidelines, including still wearing a mask in public.
As of right now, all of Pennsylvania is in the “red” phase until May 8th.