Pennsylvania Ping!
Please ping me with articles of interest.
FReepmail me to be added to the list.
Posted on 07/16/2020 12:42:27 PM PDT by lightman
There’s no estimated end to the new restrictions imposed on Pennsylvania restaurants, bars and gatherings in response to a new wave of COVID-19 infections.
“While this step may feel like a move back toward the yellow phase, we need individuals to see the seriousness of the situation and to take personal action,” state health department spokesman Nate Wardle said.
Gov. Tom Wolf offered no estimated duration on Thursday afternoon.
“We’re trying to shut this down in a short, focused way so that all of us can get back to work as quickly as possible,” he said. “If we do nothing, we’re going to be overwhelmed by this disease, and that’s going to be a bad thing for all corners of the economy.”
Wolf announced the restrictions Wednesday, saying contact tracing has shown much of the surge results from younger people socializing in eating and drinking establishments while ignoring social distancing and the need for face masks.
However, the health department later said, “we do not currently systematically compile information such as how many cases in [Pennsylvania] originated from bars, restaurants or churches.”
Given that, Wolf was questioned Thursday on how the state can assure the public the restrictions on restaurants, bars and establishments including wineries are truly justified and focused on the right areas.
Wolf said he believes the state can produce the data to back up the decision. He added “with what we know, that’s where we saw the outbreak. That’s where people were congregating together. That’s where they were in close contact … we put all the evidence together and that seems to be the source.”
Wolf has said the surge could interfere with reopening schools in six weeks if it isn’t brought under control.
State health secretary Dr. Rachel Levine said the key to controlling the surge and moving toward normal is to social distance, wear masks in all public and outdoor situations where other people are within six feet, and wash hands frequently.
As Wolf announced the new restrictions to news reporters, he communicated by video conference with Dr. David Rubin, who is involved with a Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia model that apparently played a role in the decision.
The model looks at hotspots all over the country. Rubin described a wave of infections flowing into Pennsylvania from places including Cleveland, Washington, D.C. and Baltimore.
Wolf also blamed much of on interstate travel, southern states that didn’t react as aggressively and reopened quickly, and a lack of a coordinated national response.
Wardle said state officials will be watching assorted models and data in deciding when restrictions can be lifted.
He said much focus will be on 7- and 14-day averages of new cases and the rate of positive tests.
As of early this week, about 4.4% of COVID-19 tests were coming back positive in Pennsylvania. But rates varied substantially by region. Among counties with large population centers, rates ranged from 7.8% in Allegheny County to about 2% in Luzerne and Lackawanna counties.
Levine said a rate under 5% is good, while a rate that goes above 5% is bad, especially when it approaches 10%. .
Pennsylvania Ping!
Please ping me with articles of interest.
FReepmail me to be added to the list.
The beatings will continue until moral improves.
Is it time yet? It feels like it’s getting close
Protest in Harrisburg on Wednesday may be our last shot.
But what if hospital and labs are cooking the books like they were caught
doing in FLA? Criminal investigations must be started over all this cooking
the books criminal activity.
That is one of the things that makes my blood boil. The mandates don’t come from objective facts, and they constantly scold and threaten, like they are the wise parents of unruly kids.
‘eff off! I mean, really ‘eff off. Go read the constitution, remember you work for me, not vice versa, and leave me the ‘eff alone!!!
Ten years from now I expect I’ll be watching an old cowboy movie bar scene with my grandkids and one of them will ask, Hey Gramps, why are all those people standing so close. Aren’t they supposed to be six feet apart and how come he only one wearing a mask is the bad guy?
Remember when we were told lockdowns were in order to flatten the curve, bend the curve, so that hospitals wouldn’t be overwhelmed????
And it was suggested then that lockdowns would last for a couple of weeks.
Somewhere along the way, the criteria and goals shifted from flattening the curve, to apparently trying to do the impossible task of eradicating this virus, before the powers that be allow us to resume our normal lives.
Good.
Because wearing masks in public and "social distance" is ABNORMAL.
You be Good and do what I say or else
“Wolf also blamed much of on interstate travel, southern states that didn’t react as aggressively and reopened quickly, and a lack of a coordinated national response.”
I can’t tell you how many out of state northern plates I have seen on 65 south in Alabama going to Florida in the past 3 weeks. NY, NJ, Pa, Md, Ct.... and we aren’t complaining. It’s jump starting our economy here. If Tom wants to keep people out from the south traveling through Pa then build a wall.
I'm livid they're hurting businesses and plenty other lives while they dick around with data they know isn't the whole picture of this state!
It strikes me that Levine wouldn’t be the go-to person for “normal.”
That's quite an accomplishment for the chromosomally challenged she/he/it.
It’s a he.
One thing the left has over the right is patience and a mastery of incrementalism. A lot of us saw this coming with smoking bans 20-30 years ago. The left found that even small municipal governments could, with minimal objection, ban a legal activity on private property in the name of public health. They could use the junk science of second-hand smokes to whip the public sentiment into a frenzy that let them set precedents for later on.
Later on is now, and it's not about health, it's about control.
I was in PA last week.
Tommy, the Commie along with his HeSheIt (pronounced he-shit-it according to my PA friends) seems like they are NOT the most popular folks in most parts of PA these days. All the Commie cares about is Pittsburg and Philly. Everyone else can just “suck it up”. The pair of em seem to be well-hated to say the least.
Banning burgers on behalf of globull warming ‘cause of cow f@rts coming next....
Remember 2 days ago when the lying media were all telling us how democrat governors were doing great, and it was the evil republican states that were having trouble?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.