Governor Wolf Says State is Preparing to Open, But Slowly and Carefully

In a personal, heartfelt, and candid speech to the state’s residents on Friday, Governor Tom Wolf announced a plan to set citizens and businesses on a path to recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic while continuing to protect residents from the dangers of the deadly virus.

041820 2035 GovernorWol1

041820 2035 GovernorWol1

Watch the governor’s full remarks here. Read the governor’s full remarks here.

“No amount of imagination could have imagined what I and reality have asked of you in the past month,” said Wolf. “But there is no higher service than helping each other survive. I will be forever grateful for your courage, compassion, and speed as we prepared.”

“For weeks, my administration has been at work on a plan to reopen Pennsylvania, and we’re going to make sure we have a plan that respects the reality of the situation on the ground and works with our local, regional, and federal partners,” said Wolf. “All of us are anxious to reopen the commonwealth. As a former business owner, I deeply share the concerns of some in the legislature, but we cannot exacerbate the pandemic’s damage on Pennsylvania.”

The governor outlined six key points to his plan:

  • Using a data-driven approach to determine reopenings.
  • Following recommendations for employers, individuals, and health care facilities for assured accountability while reopening.
  • Assuring adequate personal protective equipment and testing before reopening.
  • Using a monitoring and surveillance program that allows the Commonwealth to deploy swift actions for containment or mitigation.
  • Keeping in place protections for vulnerable populations throughout the reopening process, such as limitations on visitors to congregate care facilities and prisons.
  • Limiting large gatherings unrelated to occupations through the reopening process.

“In my five years as governor, I have never been more proud of our commonwealth, and I have never been more lifted by the spirit of our people,” said Wolf. “Nurses, doctors, grocery store workers, transit workers, police, EMS, those who have fought through the fear and fog of uncertainty. Manufacturers who have changed their businesses to help provide those on the frontlines what they need. ”

“I look back in our history, I see setbacks, I see pain, I see challenges that looked impossible, I see pandemics, wars, recessions,” said Wolf. But each time we have risen. Each time Pennsylvania has not only pulled itself up, but led the nation.”

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