Advocates have widely praised the department’s efforts, but are concerned about potential harms to inmate mental health.
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Spotlight PA
Pa. counties abandon plans to buck Wolf, as GOP lawmakers continue pushing doomed reopening bills
The GOP-controlled state Senate approved a bill that would give counties the power to opt out of Gov. Tom Wolf’s business closure and stay-at-home orders.
Pa. officials revoked business waivers the night before publishing list of recipients
The Department of Community and Economic Development, which oversees the process, said it was part of ongoing “quality control.”
In major reversal, Gov. Tom Wolf says Pa. will begin weekly testing of nursing home residents, employees
The announcement is a reversal for the administration, which for weeks has said it has done everything possible to protect nursing homes and maintained that only people with symptoms should be tested, despite the known spread of the disease from carriers with no signs of illness.
Pa. GOP takes Gov. Tom Wolf to court as it seeks records on controversial business waiver process
The Wolf administration rejected the request on Friday, though it did for the first time release a list of more than 5,000 businesses that were granted waivers.
Gov. Tom Wolf denounces Pa. counties reopening without his approval as ‘cowardly,’ ‘selfish’
The Democratic governor said counties that do so are risking federal stimulus dollars for coronavirus response.
Workers in Pennsylvania with preexisting health conditions fear a call to return to work
They are particularly at risk of serious complications or death if they get the coronavirus, but if they refuse to work, they could lose their job and unemployment.
Some Pa. counties push to exclude nursing home cases from reopening formula, but experts caution against it
Reopening too soon could exacerbate the already devastating death toll in long-term care facilities, experts say.
Pa. had an early plan to protect nursing home residents from the coronavirus, but never fully implemented it
Similar measures to those envisioned were later put in place, but only after widespread outbreaks were already underway.
Gov. Tom Wolf rejects GOP subpoena for business waiver records, but releases some information online
The information, published late Friday, only identified which businesses received waivers, falling well short of what the legislature had requested.
Pa. extends eviction, foreclosure protections to July 10
The state Supreme Court previously placed a moratorium on such proceedings until May 11, as officials shuttered much of Pennsylvania’s economy to prevent the coronavirus from overwhelming hospitals.
‘I’m trying to be transparent,’ Wolf says as his administration rejects bill to restart public records law
The governor championed government transparency during his campaigns, but now that commitment is being tested.
Top Pa. health official says state won’t supply masks, other protective equipment to hospitals that resume elective surgeries
Instead, the state is focusing on providing personal protective equipment to nursing homes, which have been hard hit by the pandemic.
How Pa. plans to keep track of the coronavirus after reopening to prevent another outbreak
Health officials said they will rely on a combination of partnerships with local hospital systems, voluntary tracking technology, and federal funding to hire additional staff.
Pa. sets modest goal to conduct 8,500 coronavirus tests per day, far less than what some experts say is needed
A Harvard estimate says the state should test about 19,000 Pennsylvanians per day — or more than twice the rate of the Wolf administration’s plan.