Centre County will be among the first in Pennsylvania to see an easing of coronavirus-related restrictions when it moves from the red phase to the yellow phase for reopening next week, Gov. Tom Wolf said on Friday.
Centre is one of 24 counties in northwest and north-central Pennsylvania that will move to yellow on Friday, May 8, joining Bradford, Cameron, Clarion, Clearfield, Clinton, Crawford, Elk, Erie, Forest, Jefferson, Lawrence, Lycoming, McKean, Mercer, Montour, Northumberland, Potter, Snyder, Sullivan, Tioga, Union, Venango, and Warren.
Wolf said the decision is based on low per-capita case counts, the ability to conduct contact tracing and testing and appropriate population density to contain community spread.
“Over the past two months, Pennsylvanians in every corner of our commonwealth have acted collectively to stop the spread of COVID-19,” Wolf said. “We have seen our new case numbers stabilize statewide and while we still have areas where outbreaks are occurring, we also have many areas that have few or no new cases.”
All of the commonwealth is currently in the red phase, with a stay-at-home order and closure of ‘non-life-sustaining’ businesses. In the yellow phase, stay-at-home restrictions will be lifted but telework must continue where possible, and businesses with in-person operations must follow safety orders. Child care facilities can open, provided they comply with guidance.
Restrictions for nursing and personal care homes and prisons will remain in place and schools will remain closed for in-person instruction.
In-person retail will be permitted, but curbside and delivery service are preferred. Gatherings of more than 25 people are prohibited.
Indoor recreation and health and wellness facilities such as gyms and spas, hair salons, nail salons and massage establishments will remain closed, as will all entertainment, such as movie theaters and casinos. Restaurants and bars will continue to be limited to takeout and delivery.
Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine added during a news conference that ‘organized sports are not going to be allowed under the yellow phase… it would not be an exercise of caution to let team sports play.’ She also said that salons and massage therapy will remain closed because it is impossible to practice social distancing in those establishments.
On Monday, Wolf’s administration will issue guidance for businesses that are permitted to reopen.
‘All businesses not specifically mentioned as restricted from reopening may reopen if they follow the forthcoming guidance,’ a news release from Wolf’s office said.
Social distancing, masking and other public health guidance will remain in place in the yellow counties.
Wolf noted that an outbreak of new cases could result in a county moving from yellow back to red.
“Every human-to-human contact is a chance for the virus to spread, so more contacts mean a higher likelihood of an outbreak,” Wolf said. “If we see an outbreak occur in one of the communities that has been moved to yellow, we will need to take swift action, and revert to the red category until the new case count falls again. So, Pennsylvanians living in a county that has been moved to the yellow category should continue to strongly consider the impact of their actions.”
Criteria for reopening includes fewer than 50 new cases per 100,000 individuals over a two week period. Centre County has remained well within that metric since the first cases were confirmed in March. Over the last two weeks, the county has had 23 new cases among a population of about 162,000.
The county has had a total of 96 cases and one death of a patient with COVID-19.
Mount Nittany Health, Penn State Health and Geisinger have all had contact-tracing protocols in place. The state Department of Health ‘will conduct complete case investigation and contact tracing of positive cases to stamp out disease transmission,’ as counties begin to go back to work, according to the department’s plan.
Counties also must have enough testing available for people with symptoms and target populations such as those at high risk, health care workers and first responders.
Wolf’s administration has worked with Carnegie Mellon University on a modeling tool that aims to balance economic and health concerns. It evaluates ‘risk factors such as reported number of COVID cases per population of an area; ICU and medical/surgical bed capacity; population density; population over age 60; re-opening contact risk, such as the number of workers employed in a currently closed industry sector,’ and is used in combination with the health department metrics.
The next phase of reopening would be the green phase, in which remaining businesses would be permitted to open, with all businesses and individuals required to follow Centers for Disease Control and Department of Health guidelines. Monitoring of public health indicators would continue and adjustments could be made, including reverting to yellow or red phases.
