COVID-19 pandemic in Pennsylvania

• On March 6, Governor Tom Wolf reported Pennsylvania's first two confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Delaware County and in Wayne County.[5][6] Both cases were related to travel — one to another state within the U.S. and another to Europe.[7][8][9]
• On March 9, 4 new cases were confirmed, bringing the total to 10.
• On March 10, 2 new cases were confirmed, bringing the total to 12.[10]
• On March 12, Governor Wolf implemented social distancing measures in Allegheny, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery counties, which urged nonessential businesses to close.
• On March 13, Governor Wolf announced that all Pennsylvania schools will be closed for at least two weeks.[11] Additionally, park programs were canceled.[12]
• On March 16, Governor Wolf extended the social distancing measures across the entire state. Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney ordered nonessential businesses and city government to close for two weeks.[13] Governor Wolf ordered bars and restaurants to close to dine-in customers in Allegheny, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery counties.[14] The Pennsylvania Turnpike stopped accepting cash or credit cards and implemented all-electronic tolling starting at 8 p.m.[13]
• By March 17, there were 96 cases in the state; more than half of them were in the Philadelphia area with Montgomery County as the highest number.[14] All Fine Wine & Good Spirits stores across the state closed at the end of the business day.[15]
• On March 18, the department of health reported the state's first death related to the virus, a patient at St. Luke's Fountain Hill campus in Northampton County.[16][17]
• On March 19, Governor Wolf ordered a statewide closure of all "non-life sustaining businesses operations and services," with enforcement of this order going into effect at 12:01 am on Saturday, March 21.[18] The PA Department of Education canceled all statewide assessments including the PSSA testing, Keystone exams, and the Pennsylvania Alternate System of Assessment (PASA) for the remainder of the 2019–2020 school year.[19]
• On March 21, the department of health announced the state's second death as well as 103 new cases. The second death was in Allegheny County.[16] Rachel Levine, the Secretary of Health for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, said during a press conference "A state-wide shelter in place was not out of the question."[20]
• On March 22, 273 new cases were reported, bringing the total to 644. The sixth death occurred in Montgomery County.[21][22] Mayor Kenney issued a stay-at-home order for the city of Philadelphia, set to take effect March 23 at 8:00 am.[23]
• On March 23, Governor Wolf issued additional stay-at-home orders for Allegheny, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, Monroe, and a redundant order for Philadelphia County, to go into effect at 8:00 pm the same day.[24]
• On March 24, Governor Wolf issued a stay-at-home order for Erie County starting at 8:00 pm the same day.[25]
• On March 25, Governor Wolf issued a stay-at-home order for Lehigh and Northampton counties.[26] A 35-year-old woman in Hanover Township, Luzerne County was arrested for deliberately coughing and spitting on food at a Gerrity's Supermarket. She made verbal threats about being infected with COVID-19 and has been charged with two counts of terrorism and two other felonies plus a misdemeanor for attempting to steal a pack of beer. The supermarket had to throw out $35,000 worth of merchandise and has since raised employee pay $1 per hour. The woman is being tested for coronavirus.[27]
• On March 27, Governor Wolf issued a stay-at-home order for Berks, Butler, Lackawanna, Lancaster, Luzerne, Pike, Wayne, Westmoreland, and York counties.[28]
• On March 28, Governor Wolf issued a stay-at-home order for Beaver, Centre, and Washington counties.[29] Governor Wolf announced 533 new cases, bringing the statewide total to 2,751. The highest rise in cases was in Philadelphia County.[16]

Variable-message sign along Interstate 95 in Philadelphia telling people to practice social distancing, stay home, and limit travel

• On April 1, Governor Wolf extended the stay-at-home order across the entire state effective that evening at 8:00 pm.[30][31]
• On April 3, Governor Wolf asked Pennsylvanians to wear cloth face coverings in public. Philadelphia reduced recycling pickup to every two weeks due to staff shortages.[32]
• On April 9, Governor Wolf officially ordered the closing of all Pennsylvania schools through the end of the academic school year. He stated that they will resume all classes through means of Google Classroom and other online classroom tools. He had not yet stated if the Class of 2020 graduations will be postponed or cancelled.[33]
• On April 15, Health Secretary Levine issued an order requiring safety precautions for essential businesses (except for Hospitals).[34]
• On April 17, Governor Wolf laid out a plan to provide relief for Pennsylvanians (Phase 1), gradually reopen the state (Phase 2), and recover from this situation (Phase 3).[35] The state government used a three-phase color-coded plan to reopen the state. The first and most restrictive phase is the red phase, which includes a stay-at-home order and only allows essential businesses to be open. The second phase of the reopening process is the yellow phase, which calls for aggressive mitigation and allows some businesses to reopen while others must remain closed. The third and least restrictive phase is the green phase, which allows most businesses to be open while following health guidelines.[34]
• On April 19, Governor Wolf ordered employees and customers at essential businesses to wear face masks effective at 8 p.m.[36]
• On April 20, hundreds of protesters marched on the Pennsylvania State Capitol building during a "Operation Gridlock Pennsylvania" event in Harrisburg in order to protest the stay-at-home order.[37] The protest was organized by three groups, "Re-open Pennsylvania", "End the Lockdown Pennsylvania" and "Pennsylvania Against Excessive Quarantine" led in part by an Ohio-based Second Amendment rights activist named Chris Dorr.[38][37][39]

Governor Tom Wolf and Secretary of Health Rachel Levine at a press conference on May 29, 2020 announcing counties moving to a different phase in the state's reopening plan

• On May 1, public and private construction projects were allowed to resume.[40] In addition, golf courses, marinas, guided fishing trips, and private campgrounds were allowed to reopen.[41]
• On May 7, Governor Wolf extended the stay-at-home order until June 4 for counties in the red phase.[42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49]
• On May 8, 24 counties entered the yellow phase, allowing some businesses to reopen. They are Bradford, Cameron, Centre, Clarion, Clearfield, Clinton, Crawford, Elk, Erie, Forest, Jefferson, Lawrence, Lycoming, McKean, Mercer, Montour, Northumberland, Potter, Snyder, Sullivan, Tioga, Union, Venango, and Warren.[50][51]
• On May 15, 13 more counties entered the yellow phase: Allegheny, Armstrong, Bedford, Blair, Butler, Cambria, Fayette, Fulton, Greene, Indiana, Somerset, Washington, and Westmoreland.[52][53]
• On May 22, 12 more counties entered the yellow phase: Adams, Beaver, Carbon, Columbia, Cumberland, Juniata, Mifflin, Perry, Susquehanna, Wayne, Wyoming, and York.[54][55]
• On May 29, eight more counties entered the yellow phase: Dauphin, Franklin, Huntingdon, Lebanon, Luzerne, Monroe, Pike and Schuylkill. The first 18 counties to enter the green phase were Bradford, Cameron, Centre, Clarion, Clearfield, Crawford, Elk, Forest, Jefferson, Lawrence, McKean, Montour, Potter, Snyder, Sullivan, Tioga, Venango, and Warren.[56]

Empty toilet paper shelves during the COVID-19 pandemic at the Weis Markets in Huntingdon Valley

• On June 5, 16 more counties entered the green phase: Allegheny, Armstrong, Bedford, Blair, Butler, Cambria, Clinton, Fayette, Fulton, Greene, Indiana, Lycoming, Mercer, Somerset, Washington and Westmoreland. The last ten counties to enter the yellow phase were Berks, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Lackawanna, Lancaster, Lehigh, Montgomery, Northampton, and Philadelphia. There are no remaining counties in the red phase.[57][58][59][60]
• On June 12, 12 more counties entered the green phase: Adams, Beaver, Carbon, Columbia, Cumberland, Juniata, Mifflin, Northumberland, Union, Wayne, Wyoming, and York.[61][62][63][64][65]
• On June 16, there had been 48 cases and 4 deaths at a York County nursing home.[66]
• On June 19, eight more counties entered the green phase: Dauphin, Franklin, Huntingdon, Luzerne, Monroe, Perry, Pike, and Schuylkill.[67][68][69]
• On June 24, Pennsylvania's Secretary of Health, Dr. Rachel Levine, announced that the state would partner with CVS Health to provide free COVID-19 tests to skilled nursing facilities across the state, to commence June 29.[70]
• On June 26, 12 more counties entered the green phase: Berks, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Erie, Lackawanna, Lancaster, Lehigh, Montgomery, Northampton, Philadelphia and Susquehanna.[71][72][73][74][75][76][77][78][79][80][81][82][83][84][85][86]

Dine-in area at the Five Guys restaurant in North Huntingdon Township closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic

• On July 1, Governor Wolf issued a statewide order mandating the wearing of face masks in all public spaces in the state.[87][88][89][90][91][92]
• On July 2, the Pennsylvania Department of Health recommended that people who have traveled, or plan to travel, to a state with a high number of COVID-19 cases should quarantine for 14 days upon return to Pennsylvania.[93][94]
• On July 3, Lebanon County became the final county to enter the green phase. There are no remaining counties in the yellow phase. Allegheny County, which is home to Pittsburgh, closed bars, restaurants and casinos for a week, and cancelled gatherings of 25 people or more due to a rise in cases.[95]
• On July 10, West Chester University of Pennsylvania announced that classes for the fall 2020 semester will be held online due to rising COVID-19 cases.[96]
• On July 14, East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania also announced that classes for the fall 2020 semester will be held online.[97]
• On July 15, Governor Wolf partially rolled back some of the lifted restrictions by imposing new restrictions due to a rise in cases. Restaurants were limited to 25 percent capacity for indoor dining, alcohol can only be served for on-premises consumption when purchased with a meal, telework must be implemented when possible, and indoor gatherings were limited to 25 people.[98]
• On July 24, the Berks County Coroner office in Reading announced an autopsy revealed a local 26-day-old female baby that recently died tested positive for the virus and would investigate the death as a co-sleeping accident. The baby may be the state's youngest death from the virus.[99]
• On July 25, two block parties at night in the Lawncrest neighborhood of Philadelphia were stopped by local police officers in an effort to stop viral transmission.[100]

COVID-19 testing at the Walmart in Elizabethville

• On August 6, Governor Wolf recommended that interscholastic and recreational sports be suspended until January 1, 2021.[101]
• On August 11, the University of Pennsylvania announced most undergraduates would be asked to stay home.[102][103][104]
• As of August 11, 332 cases were reported at Brighton Rehabilitation and Wellness Center in Beaver County, with at least 73 deaths.[105]
• On August 12, a surge in cases in rural Union County was the result of at least 19 cases at the federal prison at Lewisburg.[106]
• On August 19, a large crowd of freshmen students at the University Park campus of Pennsylvania State University gathered; many of them did not practice social distancing or wearing masks. A petition calling for the freshmen who gathered in the crowd to be sent home gained close to 3,500 signatures.[107]
• On August 21, the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association approved for schools to play fall sports.[108]
• On August 30, Temple University reverted to online instruction after 103 people tested positive. Contact tracing linked the outbreak to off-campus apartments and small social gatherings.[109]
• On August 31, Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania moved classes online for the remainder of the fall semester following a rise in COVID-19 cases during the first two weeks of students being on campus for classes.[110]

An electronic sign announces the closure of Loyalsock Township High School near Williamsport due to COVID-19

• On September 1, Philadelphia's health commissioner told Temple University students, "You should assume that everyone around you is infected." Guidance for colleges in Philadelphia was revised "to recommend against gatherings of any size."[111] Gettysburg College announced an all-student quarantine through at least the end of the week, after 25 of 348 students tested positive. Students may "leave their rooms only to pick up food, use the bathroom or get their COVID-19 test."[112]
• On September 3, Temple University announced classes would be held online for the remainder of the fall semester following the COVID-19 outbreak at the campus.[113]
• On September 11, the borough of Kutztown, which is home to Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, enacted an emergency ordinance that limits residential gatherings of unrelated people to 10 people or less and also mandates masks in public spaces when people are within 6 feet of others outside their household. Violators of the ordinance can be fined between $100 and $600.[114]
• On September 13, the Pennsylvania Department of Health no longer reports COVID-19 statistics on Sundays.[115]
• On September 14, U.S. District Judge William S. Stickman IV ruled that Governor Wolf's pandemic restrictions - including the stay-at-home order, size limits on gatherings, and the order for non-essential businesses to close - were unconstitutional.[116]
• On September 21, restaurants were allowed to increase to 50 percent capacity for indoor dining after completing self-certification documents.[117]
• On September 22, the COVID Alert PA smartphone app was launched to notify people if they were exposed to someone with COVID-19.[118]

• On October 6, Governor Wolf increased crowd capacity limits for indoor and outdoor events including sporting events effective October 9. The limits are based on venue size and whether the venue is indoors or outdoors.[119]

Floor decals and signs promoting one-way traffic and social distancing at the King of Prussia mall in King of Prussia

• On November 13, health officials in Montgomery County ordered schools to go all-virtual for two weeks starting November 23 due to a rise in cases and hospitalizations.[120]
• On November 16, the city of Philadelphia announced new restrictions due to a surge in cases, which are in place from November 20 until January 1, 2021. The restrictions include no indoor dining at restaurants, capacity limits at retail stores and religious institutions, the closure of gyms, libraries, and certain entertainment businesses, telework for office workers required unless it is not possible, no indoor gatherings, reduced size limits on outdoor gatherings, and no youth or school sports. Colleges, universities, and high schools are only allowed to offer online classes while elementary and middle schools are allowed in-person instruction following health guidelines.[121]
• On November 17, Health Secretary Levine announced that anyone traveling to Pennsylvania must get a COVID-19 test within 72 hours of arrival or quarantine for 14 days, effective November 20. In addition, masks must be worn in every indoor facility and any time people are indoors with other people from outside their household, even if they can remain socially distant.[122]
• On November 19, Health Secretary Levine announced a three-phase plan to distribute a COVID-19 vaccine once it is available. The first phase will provide the vaccine to critical populations, including healthcare workers, first responders, critical workers, essential workers, people over the age of 65, and people living in congregate settings. The second phase will expand the vaccine to vulnerable populations and people with health conditions who may be a high risk of developing complications from the virus. The third phase will allow the remainder of the population to be vaccinated.[123]
• On November 23, Health Secretary Levine announced a stay-at-home advisory as cases deaths and hospitalizations continued to increase. In addition, it was announced that alcohol sales at bars and restaurants would be suspended on Thanksgiving Eve, traditionally a big drinking holiday, with the suspension running from 5 p.m. November 25 to 8 a.m. November 26.[124]

• On December 8 (announced December 9), Governor Wolf tested positive for COVID-19.[125]
• On December 10, Governor Wolf announced several restrictions to slow the spread of the virus; these restrictions are in place from December 12 until January 4, 2021. During this time, indoor dining is prohibited at restaurants except for outdoor dining at 50% capacity, indoor operations at gyms are prohibited, indoor gatherings are limited to 10 people, outdoor gatherings are limited to 50 people, youth sports and in-person extracurricular activities are prohibited, businesses are limited to 50 percent capacity, and in-person entertainment including theaters, concert venues, museums, arcades, casinos, and bowling alleys are ordered to be closed. The order is to prevent hospitals from getting overwhelmed from a surge from Christmas and New Year's gatherings.[126]
• On December 14, the first doses of the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in Pennsylvania were issued to healthcare workers. Charmaine Pykosh, an acute care nurse in the surgical/intensive care unit at UPMC Presbyterian in Pittsburgh, received the first dose of the vaccine.[127]

Variable-message sign along Pennsylvania Route 309 in Montgomery Township telling people to stop the spread of COVID-19 by washing hands and wearing a mask

• On January 8, the state announced updates to the phases in which the COVID-19 vaccine will be offered. In Phase 1A, the vaccine will be available to healthcare workers and nursing homes. In Phase 1B, the vaccine will be available to people over age 75 and essential workers including first responders, correction officers, postal workers, grocery store workers, teachers, school support staff, clergy, public transit workers, daycare workers, and manufacturing workers. In Phase 1C, the vaccine will be available to people age 65–74, pregnant women, people with existing health issues, and other essential workers including public safety workers, wastewater plant workers, elected government officials, the judiciary, legal service workers, media workers, and communications workers. In Phase 2, the vaccine will be available to the general population over age 16.[128]
• On January 19, the state expanded COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to people over age 65 and people age 16–64 with health conditions that put them at higher risk.[129]

Sources:[3][4]