Gov. Wolf Relaxes COVID-19 Restrictions on Crowds and Eliminates Travel Quarantine

After almost one year since Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf first enacted mitigation orders aimed at reducing the spread of the Coronavirus, his office has now announced measures to relax COVID-19 safety restrictions.

On Monday, March 1, 2021, Governor Wolf, in congruence with the Acting Secretary of Health, published three major changes to the Commonwealth’s current COVID-19 mitigation efforts.

• First, Pennsylvania is raising its maximum occupancy limits for indoor events from the previous limitation of ten percent (10%) of maximum occupancy for a facility, with an absolute person cap of five hundred (500) people, to a new limitation of simply fifteen percent (15%) of the maximum occupancy for a facility with no absolute person cap.

• Second, the maximum occupancy limits for outdoor events is being raised from the previous limitation of fifteen percent (15%) of maximum occupancy for a facility, with an absolute person cap of two thousand five hundred (2,500) people, to a new limitation of simply twenty percent (20%) of the maximum occupancy for a facility with no absolute person cap.
• Finally, the previous travel order requiring anyone over the age of eleven (11) who visits Pennsylvania from another state to provide evidence of a negative COVID-19 test or place themselves in a travel quarantine for fourteen (14) days upon entering the Commonwealth has been rescinded.

These changes come after Governor Wolf highlighted the drop in COVID-19 cases in Pennsylvania due to, in part, “people following the mitigation efforts we have in place. Mask-wearing, social distancing and hand hygiene are making a difference and need to continue even as we see more and more people fully vaccinated.”

The Governor then stated that there needs to be a balance between protecting public health and leading the state to a robust economic recovery, and that the Commonwealth is lifting mitigation efforts only when it is safe to do so.

Core public health measures such as face covering (mask-wearing), social distancing, and hand hygiene must still be enforced.

These changes took effect upon announcement on March 1, 2021.

See the full Press Release here

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