Area officials glad to be getting back to business
By KRISTIE LINDEN
klinden@yourmvi.com
State Sen. Camera Bartolotta, R-Carroll Township, spilled the beans the night before Gov. Tom Wolf announced most Southwest Pennsylvania counties would move to the yellow phase, explaining that she felt it was best for her constituents.
Wolf announced Friday that 13 counties will move to the yellow phase on May 15. Those counties include Allegheny, Fayette, Greene, Washington and Westmoreland.
Many times, Bartolotta said, she has to bite her tongue when she learns certain things ahead of time, but it just didn’t feel right this time, though she has apologized to the governor.
She made a Facebook post Thursday night that said Washington and Greene would be part of the next round of counties moving into the yellow phase because “the people in my district have been hanging onto hope for eight weeks.”
“For me to know ahead of time that we were going to go to yellow, but then for the governor to say all red counties will stay red until June 4 … I could not in good conscience not say something,” Bartolotta said.
The announcement that the stay-at-home order was extended for red counties until June 4 confused many Pennsylvanians.
It doesn’t mean all counties that are currently red will remain that way until June 4. It means any counties that are still red throughout the next few weeks will remain under the stay-at-home order until June 4. Wolf has said he intends to continue moving counties to the yellow phase throughout that time.
Bartolotta said she was inundated with constituents who were in tears and were coming to her with pleas for help — including one whose friend was threatening self harm.
“We have people with mental health issues, people in domestic violence situations, people hanging on to their livelihoods by their fingernails,” Bartolotta said. “I couldn’t sleep knowing there were hundreds of thousands of people waiting patiently, doing everything that’s been asked of them, to have the rug pulled out from under them (with the June 4 announcement).”
Bartolotta said that while she’s glad the counties in her district are moving to yellow, she doesn’t understand why they couldn’t have moved to the new phase along with the northern counties yesterday. She also asked why it couldn’t have happened on Monday and why it has to wait another full week.
“The only difference is to wait for one more week to have them lose one more week of revenue and hope,” Bartolotta said of local business owners. “West Virginia is literally welcoming (customers) with open arms.”
Bartolotta has been among many vocal elected officials questioning why several western Pennsylvania counties were left out of the first round of yellow-phased counties.
“If you’re going to follow the science, then do it,” Bartolotta said, referring to the governor’s plan to reopen counties with fewer than 50 new cases over a two-week span. “I’m encouraged that the governor finally listened to us — our counties down here have had some of the lowest numbers.”
Anyone who needs assistance is encouraged to contact the senator on her website at www.senatorbartolotta.com or by calling 724-225-4380.
Washington County Commission Chairwoman Diana Irey Vaughn said she’s glad to see the county will move into the yellow phase, but is concerned that it will still leave a lot of people out of work and a lot of businesses closed “that need to reopen if they’re going to survive this pandemic.
“The big box retailers were allowed to stay open and operate and they sell a lot of the same things our small businesses do,” Irey Vaughn said, adding that she expects to see bankruptcy filings on the other side of the pandemic.
She’s concerned about other aspects of the long-term closures as well, including the fact that reports of child abuse have fallen by 38% even though requests for protection from abuse orders are on the increase.
“The child abuse is still there but the adults are not seeing the children to report the abuse,” Irey Vaughn said.
She intends to spend the next week making sure residents and business owners in Washington County have access to the resources they need to navigate the yellow phase and ensuring that they’re complying with the new orders.
Part of that information can be found at www.governor.pa.gov/process-to-reopen-pennsylvania.
“I am very pleased (with Wolf’s decision). I think it’s long overdue. We need to get back to some normalcy, safely,” said Washington County Commissioner Larry Maggi. “We’ve gone through several months of this and right now and we’ve got to get our economy back.
“We want to be open. We wanted to be open a month ago, but we want to do it safely. We’re happy we’re at least one step closer; we want to get to the green. We will be totally happy when we’re in the green.”
Maggi said his constituents were pleased to hear the governor’s announcement.
“I had a lot of phone calls from people today and they are very happy,” Maggi said.
Commissioner Nick Sherman said it was past time for Gov. Wolf to lighten the burden on small business owners and “stop picking winners and losers. For instance, florists around the county had been frustrated that, while food delivery was fine, flower delivery was not. I believe business owners are smart enough to protect their customers while ensuring their freedoms, too.”
Sherman said the yellow phase is just the first step and there is still much to be done to get the economy back on track.
“In our region, the numbers remain low, and we need to focus our attention on brining back our economy,” Sherman said. “We have to act swiftly towards a green designation, or our small businesses throughout the Mon Valley, Canonsburg and the entire county may close permanently.”
Westmoreland County
Westmoreland County officials were happy to hear the announcement, but still feel it came a week later than it should have.
“It’s a step in the right direction,” said Westmoreland County Commissioner Sean Kertes. “This should’ve happened a week ago.”
Commissioner Doug Chew said the county should have been part of the May 1 announcement and the round of openings that took place yesterday.
“From one perspective, I am overjoyed,” he said. “But I am disappointed that we aren’t doing it today.”
Allegheny County
“We are delighted with the governor’s announcement today that the southwest region will move into the yellow phase beginning next Friday,” Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald said. “This decision is a reflection of the great work that the residents of Allegheny County and our neighboring counties have done following the advice of our medical experts.”
Fitzgerald said it’s also good news for those who have been impacted economically because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We’re thrilled for the businesses and residents who will return to work, but also recognize that there are many more that will still be without,” Fitzgerald said.
He thinks the county has risen to the challenge of working together during the pandemic.
“We recognize that it hasn’t been easy, and that we still have a long way to go. This won’t be a short process. As we begin to expand what businesses can operate in our region, we must stay vigilant and continue to follow the mitigation measures that are in place,” Fitzgerald said.
Sen. Jim Brewster, D-McKeesport, is happy that the counties he serves — Allegheny and Westmoreland — will be moving to the yellow phase.
“The community and the citizens of the region have worked very hard to drive the numbers down,” Brewster said. “This is an excellent step forward to move from the red phase to yellow. It re-engages portions of the economy and allows us to move forward safely and in a way that everyone is protected and the numbers hopefully don’t spike back up.”
The senator said Wolf’s announcement is good news, but he wants constituents to realize that it is important to continue wearing masks, washing their hands and practicing social distancing.
“This is only one step in the process,” Brewster said. “If we continue to socially distance and take the proper mitigation steps, we will continue to see progress while ensuring we are doing our best to make sure people stay safe and healthy.”
Cases
There have now been 54,238 cases of coronavirus in the state, including 1,323 new cases Friday. There were 200 new deaths reported, for a total of 3,616.
Allegheny County now has 1,455 cases, an increase of 16 patients. There were two new deaths reported for a new total of 119.
In Fayette County, there were no new cases and no new deaths reported Friday. Those totals remain at 84 and four respectively.
Washington County saw one new case for a new total of 121 patients. The county reported no new deaths, leaving that total at four fatalities.
Westmoreland County added two new cases for a total of 413 and, according to the DOH, there was one more death and that total is 30. Westmoreland County Coroner Ken Bacha reports no additional deaths, and the total he is tracking is 32.
