Trending
With hospitalizations and daily deaths at record highs Thursday, the Wolf administration tightened restrictions again, this time through the holidays, with a prohibition on indoor dining and drinking; closure for gyms, theaters, museums, casinos and bowling alleys; a 50% capacity limit at other in-person businesses; a maximum 10 at indoor gatherings and 50 outdoors and no extracurricular activities at schools.
"We all hoped it would not come to this," Wolf said during a virtual news conference, acknowledging that the restrictions have been hard on businesses and "crushing" on restaurants and bars -- and that none of it is their fault. "But the current stage (of the pandemic) did not allow us to wait," the governor said.
Wolf is "the Grinch that stole Christmas from the restaurant industry," said Frank Finelli of Finelli's Italian Villa, noting, with a pun on his last name, that tonight will be the "grand finale" for restaurants before the shutdown that begins at midnight, in the middle of his biggest month of the year.
He hasn't lost his sense of humor, he said. "(But) how can it get any worse?" he asked.
A recent study from Stanford University found that restaurants, gyms, cafes, churches and other crowded indoor venues accounted for 80% of new infections in the spring, and that limiting indoor capacity can reduce transmissions, according to a news release Thursday.
A Yale University study showed that closing gyms and limiting outdoor gatherings were among policies that most often reduced the number of deaths, according to the news release.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lists theaters and other indoor settings as higher-risk activities, according to the news release.
The pandemic now is much worse than early on, thanks to colder weather and activities moving indoors -- where people are often less than 6 feet apart in poorly ventilated areas, including restaurants, said Meda Higa, associate professor of biology at York College, who participated in the news conference.
"This curve and this surge are a completely different animal than the spring," said Chris DeFlitch, Penn State Health vice president and chief medical information officer, another participant.
The number of coronavirus patients being treated at Geisinger Health is now six times more than the number treated since Labor Day, said CEO Jaewon Ryu, who also participated. And positive cases are skewing younger, with up to 40% under 65 and half those under 55, Ryu said.
While there are "more arrows in our quiver" to deal with COVID-19, there's a feeling among health workers at Geisinger that they're "bailing water" without making progress, Ryu said.
"It's important to turn down the spigots" upstream, by adhering to the mitigation orders, he said.
Administration officials didn't emphasize enforcement, but when questioned by a reporter, Wolf spoke of engaging state police and state agency officials and working with local law enforcement.
The news release emphasized persuasion, saying officials on Thursday had "implored" Pennsylvanians to heed the orders.
The orders didn't sit well with Logan Township Supervisors Chairman Jim Patterson.
"Let the people live as they want," Patterson said at a meeting Thursday. "If people are nervous, they should stay home."
He questioned the scientific evidence and noted the hypocrisy of officials who have issued orders, then subsequently violated them.
The restaurant closure is "absolute insanity," according to Al's Tavern co-owner Thad McDonough.
"We're backed into a bad corner going into Christmas, our most financially beneficial time of year," McDonough said.
The virus isn't a "joke or a political scheme," McDonough acknowledged. But the shifting guidance -- "open, close, open, close, open, close" -- has made things difficult, he said.
"You can't fight the government," he said. "It's a losing battle (when you have) a liquor license."
Al's will try to "adapt and overcome" with the help of takeout and possibly a delivery service, McDonough said. "We'll come out the other end," he stated.
The restrictions, which will end at 8 a.m. Jan. 4, are a "bridge to a better future," Wolf said.
Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.