'Stay The Course': Gov. Tom Wolf Resists Calls To Reopen Economy, Ease Stay-At-Home Order
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP/KDKA) — Gov. Tom Wolf said Thursday that he has not set any timetable for allowing nonessential businesses to reopen or people to leave their homes, insisting that Pennsylvania has not made enough progress to "declare victory" over the coronavirus and ease up on social distancing.
GOP lawmakers have been pressing Wolf to ease his economic shutdown, more business owners are fearing bankruptcy and at least 1.4 million Pennsylvania residents have been thrown out of work during a pandemic that has killed more than 700 statewide.
But Wolf, while acknowledging catastrophic damage to the economy, said adequate testing capabilities are not yet in place in Pennsylvania or anywhere else to start trying to return to normal.
"I think that we ought to stay the course right now," the Democrat told reporters on a telephone conference call. "It is hard, it is devastating the economy, no question about it, but letting this virus overwhelm the health care system and the ability of Pennsylvanians to resist it would be even worse for the economy."
He suggested that many people still do not feel safe going to work or going out to patronize businesses, and that reopening is not as easy as it sounds.
"There's no reason to take our feet off the brakes at this point," Wolf said. "We need to get through this phase as quickly as possible and keep Pennsylvanians safe, and so that's what I'm focused on."
Asked about plans for a protest at the Capitol on Monday, Wolf said he had not heard about it. Wolf said it would be "unfortunate" if it came off, suggesting that protesters could expose themselves to the virus by gathering in a group.
"The harm they're doing is basically to themselves and to each other," Wolf said.
Risa Kumazawa, the economics and finance chair at Duquesne University, says the best way to go about reopening is a gradual ramp-up.
She believes reopening too abruptly could be detrimental to health and the economy.
"Additional groups of people suddenly get infected and we're not flattening the curve anymore," Kumazawa said. "That's less people that will be able to participate in the labor force."
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