Jul 15, 2020 5 min read

Gov. Tom Wolf has ordered the statewide closing of bars that don’t sell food and set new limits on restaurants, beginning today, over what he called an alarming and unsettling climb in COVID-19 cases.

The order closes bars at 12:01 a.m. after contact tracers determined those establishments have become a super spreader of the disease when patrons and staff don’t practice social distancing or wear face masks.

“We’re not going to become a Florida and let it burn,” state Health Secretary Rachel Levine said when she joined Wolf for a Wednesday afternoon briefing on the new order.

Wolf said contact tracers have also linked the surge in virus cases to travel and the lack of a national coordination in mitigating the disease.

“We really have to act. We have got to act now,” Wolf said.

He said Pennsylvania is “paying the price” for other states, including Florida, Texas and Arizona, that have become petri dishes with virus cases that have strained their hospitals.

Alcohol sales will be limited to restaurants as long as food is served. Indoor restaurant capacity was lowered from 50% to 25% capacity. Outdoor dining can continue under the new order, but occupancy for an indoor dining event or gathering in a restaurant is limited to 25 people.

Wolf said experience has determined that this virus is spread through the air and rapidly in crowds.

Dr. David Rubin, director of the PolyLab at Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia, joined the briefing remotely and said it’s “clear the disease is moving quickly to the Northeast.”

Rubin said the reopening of schools in the fall is going to be “highly determined” by slowing the spread of the virus.

Rubin said the lab’s models have determined there has been a significant increase in COVID-19 cases in Allegheny County and its neighboring counties.

There also have been new waves of a widespread climb of cases in Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio, Rubin said.

“The virus is saying, ‘I’m back,'” Wolf said.

The governor closed bars and other nonessential businesses March 15 and allowed them to reopen with restrictions June 5.

The novel coronavirus has killed 6,957 Pennsylvanians since March after 26 new deaths were reported Wednesday.

Washington County added 29 new cases of the virus taking its total to 494. Greene County had three new cases with a total Wednesday of 75. There have been six deaths from the virus in Washington County.

Allegheny County recorded 246 new cases of the virus, while Pennsylvania saw an increase of 994. The county’s health department also reported five new deaths from the disease.

Allegheny County has the option of putting in place rules that are stricter than what the state has implemented, said Debra Bogen, the director of the county’s health department. At a Wednesday afternoon briefing, Bogen explained that the effects of the county’s mitigation efforts would still take a while to become apparent.

“I don’t expect to see a big change yet,” she said. “But I hope in a week or two to see an effect.”

Bogen also said that school districts should be flexible as the start of the 2020-21 school year approaches, from reopening with significant modifications to full closure.

“We need to be flexible and have multiple plans ready to go,” she said.

Staff writer Brad Hundt contributed to this story.

Mitigation for bars and restaurants:

• Prohibition from conducting operations unless the facility offers sit-down, dine-in meals or is serving take-out sales of alcoholic beverages. All service must be at a table or booth; bar service is prohibited.
• Alcohol only can be served for on-premises consumption when in the same transaction as a meal.
• Take-out sales of alcohol for the purposes of off-site consumption are permitted subject to any limitations or restrictions imposed by Pennsylvania law.
• Non-bar seating in outdoor areas may be used for customer seating.
• Social distancing, masking, and other mitigation measures must be employed to protect workers and patrons.
• Occupancy is limited to 25% of stated fire-code maximum occupancy for indoor dining, or 25 persons for a discrete indoor event or gathering in a restaurant. The maximum occupancy limit includes staff
• All nightclubs, as defined by the Clean Indoor Air Act are prohibited from conducting operations.
• Indoor events and gatherings of more than 25 persons are prohibited.
• Outdoor events and gatherings of more than 250 persons are prohibited.
• The maximum occupancy limit includes staff.

Teleworking:

• Unless not possible, all businesses are required to conduct their operations in whole or in part remotely through individual teleworking of their employees in the jurisdiction or jurisdictions in which they do business.
• Where telework is not possible, employees may conduct in-person business operations, provided that the businesses fully comply with all substantive aspects of the business safety order, the worker safety order, and the masking order.

Gyms and fitness facilities

• All gyms and fitness facilities, while permitted to continue indoor operations, are directed to prioritize outdoor physical fitness activities. All activities must follow masking requirements as provided by the July 1 order, and must provide for social distancing requirements of persons being at least 6 feet apart, as well as being limited by any limitations related to gatherings.