Pa. announces more mitigation measures as winter holidays approach and case counts rise
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HARRISBURG, PA (WPMT) — Top state officials announced new coronavirus mitigation efforts Nov. 23 as the winter holidays approach and case counts continue to rise.
Gov. Tom Wolf said health officials know more about the virus and have more tools in place than last spring, so they’re following a targeted strategy instead of going back to a Red-Yellow-Green phase system.
The series of measures are aimed at reducing large gatherings and increasing enforcement of existing measures, said Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine.
The University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) projects that if no further measures are taken, Pennsylvania will have more than 22,500 new coronavirus cases per day by early December and run out of ICU beds by Nov. 30.
In the past week, the number of COVID-19-attributable deaths has quadrupled, and the average daily case count is seven times higher than it was two months ago, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health.
“Transmission of COVID-19 is reaching new heights that we have not yet encountered,” Sec. Levine said. “It has to be our collective responsibility to protect our communities, our health care workers, and our most vulnerable Pennsylvanians from COVID-19.”
Sec. Levine issued a statewide stay-at-home advisory—which is not mandatory—and discouraged large Thanksgiving gatherings later this week.
Restaurants and bars will also be prohibited from selling alcohol from 5 p.m. Wednesday to 8 a.m. Thanksgiving Day.
“If we all do this together, we’re going to defeat this virus,” Gov. Wolf said. “That’s what we should be focused on, not whether we want to get transitory benefit of going out with friends the day after tomorrow and getting drinks.”
State agencies will step up enforcement of the following mitigation orders:
Out of State Travel
Mask-wearing
Business Safety, including telework, occupancy, cleaning, social distancing
Restaurant Mitigation, including occupancy, masking, social distancing, self-certification
Gathering Limits
School Attestation and Mitigation
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