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Indoor dining to resume in Pennsylvania on Monday; Philadelphia still restricted
FOX 29's Hank Flynn has more on Gov. Tom Wolf's decision to let a ban on indoor dining, gyms and other entertainment venues expire on Monday.
HARRISBURG - Pennsylvania will let the ban on indoor dining, gyms, and entertainment venues expire on Monday, Jan. 4, Gov. Tom Wolf announced Wednesday. Philadelphia, which has acted independently for most of the pandemic, will uphold restrictions through Jan. 15.
The restrictions, which also paused K-12 and recreational sports leagues, have been in place since Dec. 13. Indoor gathering limits were trimmed to just 10 people and outdoor gatherings were limited to 50 attendees.
Wolf elaborated that all mitigation efforts put into place prior to Dec. 12 are still in effect. Those mitigation efforts include a statewide mask mandate, gathering limits based on venue size, business capacity limit and restaurant self-certification.
"We need to continue to work together to slow the spread of COVID-19, because if we get complacent and let case numbers begin to go back up, the danger to our communities, to our families, to our healthcare system will return with swift and deadly consequences," Wolf said.
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Pennsylvania will allow indoor dining, gyms to reopen on Monday; restrictions upheld in Philadelphia
Gov. Tom Wolf elaborated that all mitigation efforts put into place prior to Dec. 12 are still in effect. Those mitigation efforts include a statewide mask mandate, gathering limits based on venue size, business capacity limit and restaurant self-certification. FOX 29's Jeff Cole reports.
Pennsylvania announced the restrictions two days after the state reached its highest case total since the onset of the pandemic. According to health department data, there were 12,785 new infections reported on Dec. 10. In that same week, the state posted consecutive days of 200 or more deaths. Fearing for hospital capacity, the state clamped down on most public spaces.
Now, three weeks later, the number of deaths reported has dropped dramatically and daily case totals are plateaued. For the second straight week, Wolf said, the statewide positivity percent dropped. Wolf believes this is proof that the state's mitigation efforts have done "what they were intended to do."
Pennsylvania continues its aggressive vaccination plan for front line workers and hopes to have enough doses for the general public by the summertime. To monitor the state's progress of vaccine distribution, the state on Wednesday launched a COVID-19 Vaccine Dashboard. The dashboard provides the number of vaccinations administered by county and demographic information about the people being vaccinated.
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Restaurant employees hopeful after Gov. Tom Wolf’s announcement to let some COVID-19 lockdown measures expire on Monday
Additional restrictions that were imposed in Pennsylvania almost three weeks ago to combat the COVID-19 pandemic will expire as expected early next week. City restaurant employees are hopeful Philly will follow suit on Jan. 15.
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