{"id":32111,"date":"2020-05-22T16:36:05","date_gmt":"2020-05-22T20:36:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/?p=32111"},"modified":"2020-05-22T16:36:10","modified_gmt":"2020-05-22T20:36:10","slug":"covid-19-update-may-22-all-of-pa-to-go-yellow-june-5-17-counties-go-green-on-may-29","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/?p=32111","title":{"rendered":"COVID-19 Update, May 22: All of Pa. to go ‘Yellow’ June 5; 17 counties go ‘Green’ on May 29"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Mike McGann<\/strong>, Editor, The Times<\/em> @mikemcgannpa<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Gov. Tom Wolf announced Friday afternoon that the entire state of Pennsylvania would move out of lockdown into Yellow status, effective June 5, with eight counties moving to Yellow and 17 additional counties moving to the fully open Green status on May 29.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe know not only that we succeeded in slowing case growth, but that our actions, our collective decisions to stay at home and avoid social contact \u2013 we know that saved lives,\u201d Gov. Wolf said. \u201cMy stay-at-home order did exactly what it was intended to do: It saved lives and it bought us valuable time.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He cited a study by Drexel University that indicates that in Philadelphia alone, 60 days of staying at home resulted in more than 7,000 lives saved and prevented more than 68,000 people from needing hospitalization.<\/span><\/p>\n

Wolf was asked during Friday\u2019s press conference about the metric that seemly required less than 50 new cases per 100,000 in population for a county to move to Yellow \u2014 one that most of the counties surrounding Philadelphia have not met as yet.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have never used that metric exclusively,\u201d Wolf said. \u201cAs that date is still two weeks out, we feel confident that Philadelphia will be able to move into that status safely.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

12 counties moved into Yellow status Friday: Adams, Beaver, Carbon, Columbia, Cumberland, Juniata, Mifflin, Perry, Susquehanna, Wyoming, Wayne, and York. They joined 37 other counties as Yellow status counties.<\/span><\/p>\n

The counties moving to yellow on May 29 include Dauphin, Franklin, Huntingdon, Lebanon, Luzerne, Monroe, Pike, and Schuylkill.<\/span><\/p>\n

The following counties will move to Green on May 29: Bradford, Cameron, Clarion, Clearfield, Crawford, Elk, Forest, Jefferson, Lawrence, McKean, Montour, Potter, Snyder, Sullivan, Tioga, Venango and Warren.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Chester County Commissioners, who asked for Chester County to move to Yellow in a letter this week, expressed appreciation for the governor\u2019s decision in a statement:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are pleased that the Governor has responded to our appeal to relax restrictions in Chester County, and on June 5<\/span>th<\/sup><\/span>, Chester County can begin to move forward in a safe and cautious way,\u201d the statement said. \u201cOur \u2018Restore Chester County\u2019 program is rolling out next week to begin preparing businesses and organizations to re-open, and informing residents of all safety measures that employers are using to welcome employees and customers back without fear.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Commissioners noted that while this represents progress, there is still a way to go to get life back to normal in the county.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cCautious is the watchword for our yellow phase,\u201d the statement continues.\u00a0\u201cThank you all for your efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19 during our red phase.\u00a0 We know the inevitable question is when will we get to \u2018green?\u2019\u00a0 It is our goal that Chester County will move to the green phase no later than the end of June.\u00a0But we must all continue to make every effort to contain the coronavirus.\u00a0Wear masks, continue social distancing, work from home if you can, and continue all hygiene recommendations.\u00a0Heed the yellow phase restrictions so that Chester County is ready to \u2018go green\u2019\u00a0safely by the end of June.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Even with the change to Yellow status, there will remain limits in Chester County after June 5, although many businesses will be allowed to reopen.<\/span><\/p>\n