Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf announced the state will extend its stay-at-home order to May 8.
“You must only travel, if needed, for businesses that are open,” Wolf said in a news conference on Monday. The state’s previous stay-at-home order was scheduled to end on April 30.
“We’ve implemented guidance to protect employees and customers, all that stays in place, but we also need to all have hope that we’re going to be able to soon resume many of the activities that have come to a halt,” Wolf added.
He noted that curbside pickup is going to be allowed in some state-run liquor stores, starting Monday morning.
In addition, Wolf announced that auto sales will be allowed online.
“Even if when we resume those activities they’re in a different form, we need to have the hope that Pennsylvania’s economy will soon bounce back and be strong again. We need to have hope that we’ll soon be able to be with the loved ones we haven’t seen personally in six weeks,” Wolf said.
But he stressed that May 8 is being eyed as a “target date” to reopen some economic sectors and regions that have been essentially shut down in response to the pandemic. Health officials have said that by that time, there will be enough testing to safely reopen.
“We have given up so much and it has not been easy but it has paid off,” Wolf said. “Our new case numbers have stabilized and we have prevented the patient surges we were all so concerned about and that we’ve seen in other places.”
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