More than one month after the initial order suspending in-person operations for all businesses deemed “non-life-sustaining,” Gov. Tom Wolf’s Office has announced plans Monday to re-open certain business sectors.
Wolf released an amended order and Pennsylvania Department of Health Secretary Rachel Levine released her own, both detailing concrete plans to allow limited operations in three discrete categories.
The amended orders were also accompanied by an updated Industry Operation Guidance (the list of life-sustaining businesses) and updated Life-Sustaining Business Frequently Asked Questions.
The amended orders allow both online car sales and curbside pickup from Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board locations – the Fine Wine and Good Spirits shops – to commence immediately. Both of these sectors must continue to operate in strict compliance with social distancing and other disease transmission mitigation strategies. In addition, the governor released guidance specific to online car sales that must be followed.
Many residential and non-residential construction projects that had been on an indefinite hold will be authorized to move forward, beginning May 8. Gov. Wolf’s administration stated that it will be releasing further safety guidance for construction projects in the coming days. We should expect this guidance to further detail social distancing, personnel limits and other mitigation measures. Construction projects that had been deemed life-sustaining or that were granted a waiver to continue operating may continue to operate while maintaining current mitigation strategies.
Gov. Wolf warned that as operations are resuming, the state will be closely monitoring the data related to COVID-19 cases. In the event that the limited steps to reopen correlate to a rapid increase in cases, the restrictions are likely to resume in full.
If you have any questions about your business’s requirements for resuming operations, please contact me or anyone on Barley Snyder’s COVID-19 Response Team.
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