Gov. Tom Wolf makes plea for federal COVID-19 relief funds

Gov. Tom Wolf joined his counterpart in New Jersey Monday in making a plea for the federal government to quickly pass a COVID-19 relief bill as cases and deaths continued to climb.
Wolf and Gov. Phil Murphy expressed disappointment in the federal government’s response to the pandemic that is putting hospitals in danger of being overwhelmed in the two states.
“It’s disgraceful. Things are only going to get worse if the federal government fails to act,” Wolf said during a virtual meeting with the media Monday morning.
“The longer this goes on the bigger the price tag,” Murphy added.
The news conference was called while federal lawmakers remained at odds over funding for local and state governments and the inclusion in the package of lawsuit protections related to the pandemic.
Murphy said small businesses, such as restaurants and bars, need financial assistance to keep them “above water.”
“We have months to go before we get through this,” Wolf added.
Pennsylvania’s Health Department announced 330 new deaths from the virus since Saturday, including two in Washington County. The virus has killed 12,620 Pennsylvanians since March. There were no new deaths from the virus reported in Fayette or Greene counties.
The state announced 18,646 new cases of the virus over the past two days, including 108 in Washington County, 25 in Greene County and 106 in Fayette County.