Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf announced new coronavirus restrictions on Wednesday after a “disturbing” escalation in new cases of COVID-19 in the state last week, he said.
“If we don’t act now, medical experts are projecting that this new increase in cases may soon overshadow the peak in April,” he wrote on Twitter.
The new restrictions reduce indoor dining rooms to 25 percent of their capacity, force remote working whenever possible, and limit meetings to less than 25 people indoors and less than 250 people outdoors. Bars can open for dinner at the table, but not for bar service.
Wolf said they would take effect on Thursday.
State Republican leaders were quick to criticize the measure.
“The irreversible impact of his countless and confusing orders cannot be overstated,” House of Representatives state majority leader Kerry Benninghoff said in a statement. “Governor Today’s Wolf decision will close the doors of some small businesses forever and devastate the livelihoods of so many Pennsylvania residents who were just beginning to feel hopeful for the future.”
PHILADELPHIA CANCELS ALL BIG PUBLIC EVENTS FOR 6 MONTHS ABOUT CORONAVIRUS CONCERNS
And Republican State Senator Mike Regan, chairman of the Emergency Preparedness Committee, criticized the measure as a “direct assault” on companies already struggling since the initial shutdown.
“Unfortunately, what Governor Wolf and the health secretary don’t understand is that this will cause many restaurants to close permanently,” he wrote on Facebook. “Instead of the governor looking at this county by county, his general policy is based on case counts in big cities and the actions of other states, while allowing large stores to continue operating without capacity restrictions.”
Under Pennsylvania’s reopening plan before the new restrictions, restaurants were able to operate at 50 percent of their normal capacity.
It is the first reversal of the state’s reopening plan since it began in May, Patriot-News reported.
“These # COVID19 restrictions worked during the first wave of spring, and they will work again if we all do our part,” Wolf wrote in another tweet. “Thank you to all Pennsylvanians for your continued patience and support.”
The state is also under a mandatory facial mask order, and anyone traveling to another state suffering from a large number of coronavirus cases will be asked to quarantine for two weeks upon return.
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Pennsylvania had seen more than 94,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus and nearly 7,000 deaths as of noon Wednesday, according to the state website. After a peak of approximately 2,000 new cases per day in April, the state saw nearly 1,000 per day in the past few days.
Fox News’ Charles Creitz contributed to this report.
