Coronavirus In Pennsylvania: Gov. Wolf Issues Stay-At-Home Order For Allegheny County
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf has issued a stay-at-home order for Allegheny County.
The order goes into effect at 8 p.m. Monday night and will last for at least two weeks. He says county residents must stay in their homes, unless a life is in danger.
"If we want to save lives, we must distance ourselves socially," Gov. Tom Wolf says.
The governor says people can still go to work if it's a life-sustaining business or they have a waiver. The waiver process has seen thousands of requests, he says, tentatively adding that 2,000 waivers have been given.
WATCH: KDKA's Pam Surano Reports Live On The Order
"Allowable activities and travel" include getting medicine, visiting a health care professional or getting supplies to work from home. Under the stay-at-home order, residents are also allowed to go outside to walk, hike or run if they maintain social distancing. A full list can be found here.
"I remain deeply concerned about this public health crisis and we must continue to take careful but critical steps now to mitigate the spread of COVID-19," Gov. Wolf said. "We are issuing these orders because Pennsylvanians' health and safety remains our highest priority."
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At the same press conference, Gov. Tom Wolf said statewide school closures -- which were supposed to end this Friday -- will now be extended another two weeks, along with other mitigation efforts. This affects all schools in the state.
Grocery stores and pharmacies will still be open.
"The number of cases continues to grow and so we must take further steps to stop the spread of this contagious and dangerous novel virus to protect the public's health and mitigate the risk to our hospital system," Dr. Levine said.
"There is one way to make sure people don't need to be hospitalized and we don't strain our health care system: Stay calm. Stay home. Stay safe."
Wolf issued the stay-at-home order for the hardest-hit counties: Allegheny, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Monroe and Montgomery counties.
At the time of the press conference, Allegheny County had 48 cases and saw its first death this weekend.
More information on the Coronavirus pandemic:
- CDC Coronavirus Information
- CDC Global Map of Confirmed COVID-19 Cases
- Pennsylvania Department of Health Information
- Allegheny County Health Department Information
Stay with KDKA for the latest on this developing story.
