Pennsylvania stay-at-home order expands to 9 more counties, including Berks. Here’s what that means.

To slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, Gov. Tom Wolf has expanded his stay-at-home order to nine more Pennsylvania counties.

The order was already in place in 10 counties where COVID-19 cases were increasing: Allegheny, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Erie, Lehigh, Monroe, Montgomery, Northampton and Philadelphia.

Effective at 8 p.m. Friday, the order will extend to Berks, Butler, Lackawanna, Lancaster, Luzerne, Pike, Wayne, Westmoreland and York.

Wolf and state Health Secretary Rachel Levine have said this is part of a “measured approach” to the coronavirus pandemic focusing on areas where outbreaks are the heaviest or there is other cause for action. As of Friday, COVID-19 cases in Pennsylvania totaled 2,218 with 22 deaths.

What does a stay-at-home order mean? For most of us, it’s not much different than the social distancing already practiced since schools and most businesses were closed.

Wolf’s order seeks to restrict residents’ movement to only essential matters. According to the governor’s order, that means:

• Ensuring the health and safety of family members and pets, like obtaining medicine, visiting doctors and getting supplies to work from home.
• Getting necessary services or supplies for themselves or their family, household members or pets, or delivering those services or supplies to others.
• Traveling to care for relatives or pets in another household, for volunteer efforts or to aid the elderly, minors, dependents or other vulnerable people.
• Going to work at a life-sustaining business. (Anyone performing life-sustaining travel does not need paperwork to prove the reason for travel.)
• Getting to and from educational institutions for distance-learning materials, meals or related services.
• Traveling home from outside the county, or for non-residents to return home.
• Any travel required by law enforcement or court order.

Residents can still go outside, take walks, runs or hikes as long as they avoid large crowds and take proper precautions. There is no curfew.

Life-sustaining businesses will remain open. You can still go to the grocery store, the pharmacy, the doctor’s office and other businesses given exemption according to the governor’s list (embedded below). Restaurants will be open for takeout or delivery only.

If you may have been exposed or exhibit the symptoms of COVID-19 – fever, cough and shortness of breath – contact your health care provider.

For more information on the coronavirus, consult your state health department at health.pa.gov and the CDC website.

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Steve Novak may be reached at snovak@lehighvalleylive.com. If there’s anything about this story that needs attention, please email him. Follow him on Twitter @SteveNovakLVL and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.

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