Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf announced that the state would be increasing new restrictions on restaurants and bars effective July 16th. The order comes after the state has seen a small surge in COVID-19 cases.
The order reduces dining capacity at restaurants in the Keystone State to just 25%. Bars can only seat people at tables and bar service is prohibited. Indoor gatherings are also required to be under 25 people. The order is effective for the imminent future and covers all 67 counties.
Tom Wolf has been one of the harshest governors in the country when it comes to lockdowns during the coronavirus pandemic. On March 19th, the Governor released a list of life sustaining and non-life sustaining businesses. Any non-life sustaining business were ordered to close their physical locations immediately. It’s still unknown how many businesses were forced to close for good because of these actions. At one point, the state was reporting over 1.5M unemployment claims.
The Governor has not put out any further restrictions on other businesses at the moment. If a new curve of cases forms, we could see lockdowns return to prevent a greater spread. The state already has a full mask mandate that is required in public. Wolf has previously said he doesn’t see the state doing another full lockdown though and would rather have that handled at the local levels.
RELATED: Pennsylvania Governor Wolf named “Employee of the Month” by Ohio Restaurant
I’m still proud to have voted for this guy over Tom Wolf.