On May 4, 2020, Governor Tom Wolf provided guidance that details procedures businesses must follow to conduct in-person operations in counties slated to move to the yellow phase of reopening tomorrow.

The 24 counties moving from red to yellow on May 8 are: Bradford, Cameron, Centre, Clarion, Clearfield, Clinton, Crawford, Elk, Erie, Forest, Jefferson, Lawrence, Lycoming, McKean, Mercer, Montour, Northumberland, Potter, Snyder, Sullivan, Tioga, Union, Venango, and Warren.

If you are located or operate out of a yellow county, you may conduct in-person operations. However, you may ONLY operate in the 24 counties designated as yellow. This does not preclude you from traveling through a red county to a destination in a yellow county. But, please do not stop or allow passengers to get off the bus in any red county (i.e., if you stop for fuel).

Moreover, to avoid any confusion, the Governor was asked at yesterday's briefing about a bus company planning to resume services from northeastern Pennsylvania to New York City and Philadelphia on Monday. Governor Wolf responded that it was not a good idea and he would be opposed to that.  

The Governor's announcement of this Plan to Reopen Pennsylvania can be found below and we strongly recommend that you review it and also review the linked documents for operations.

Specifically, there are additional provisions (i.e., orders and guidance) that you must follow. For example:

The precautions that businesses must implement are more fully outlined in the documents (although only 1, 2 & 6 would apply to buses):

1) Order of the Secretary of Health providing for building safety measures, issued April 5, 2020;
2) Order of the Secretary of Health providing for business safety measures (to keep employees and customers safe), issued April 15, 2020;
3) Guidance issued by the Department of Health to the Construction Industry, issued April 19, 2020;
4) Guidance issued by the Department of State to the Real Estate Industry, reissued April 28, 2020;
5) Guidance issued by the Governor regarding Vehicle Transactions, issued April 20, 2020;
6) Other future applicable Department of Health (DOH) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance.

We will keep you apprised of when additional counties move from red to yellow. Currently, there is no set timetable - The target goal for reopening has been set at having fewer than 50 new confirmed cases per 100,000 population reported in the previous 14 days. In addition, criteria such as available testing, ability to do contact tracing and assurances that facilities have adequate safeguards in place are all being considered before deciding to move a county from red to yellow and eventually green.

Governor's Announcement; Links to Guidance:

To continue to limit the spread of COVID-19, Governor Tom Wolf provided  guidance  that details procedures businesses must follow to conduct in-person operations in counties slated to move to the yellow phase of reopening on May 8. 

All businesses, including non-profits, permitted to conduct in-person operations are subject to this guidance. This guidance is based on the  building safety  and  business safety  orders, under which nearly all life-sustaining businesses have been operating during the red phase.

"Businesses in the 24 counties that may reopen beginning May 8 must take precautions to protect their employees, their employees' families, and their communities," Gov. Wolf said. "First and foremost, businesses that have been operating using telework must continue to do so to prevent the spreading of COVID-19 until the stay-at-home and business closure orders are fully lifted when we enter a "green" phase.

"All businesses, but especially those that were closed completely during the red phase under the business closure orders, need to carefully review this guidance and commit to ensuring the health and safety of their employees and their communities."

Under the yellow phase of reopening, life-sustaining businesses that could not conduct either all or part of their operations via telework will continue to conduct their operations in-person, and many non-life sustaining businesses will be permitted to restart their in-person operations through the loosening of some restrictions under the stay-at-home and business closure orders.

In counties that have been designated as in the yellow phase, all businesses, except those categories specifically listed as remaining closed in the governor's  Plan to Reopen Pennsylvania , are permitted to conduct in-person operations, as long as they strictly adhere to the requirements of the guidance.

The guidance includes specific information on cleaning and disinfecting premises, limiting the number of employees in common areas and customers on premises, providing masks and sanitizing supplies for employees, installing shields or other barriers at registers and checkout areas to physically separate cashiers and customers, and creating a plan in case a business is exposed to a probable or confirmed case of COVID-19, among other provisions.

The full guidance can be found  here .

Businesses that have questions about whether this guidance applies to them may contact the Department of Health at 1-877-PA-HEALTH (1-877-724-3258).