Gov. Tom Wolf on defense as Berks County records 2 more virus cases, Pennsylvania's number surges

[modrepub]

HARRISBURG— Pennsylvania’s coronavirus death toll rose by one on Saturday with Berks County picking up two more cases as the state added the highest daily total: 103.

Meanwhile, lawyers for Gov. Tom Wolf asked a court to dismiss lawsuits challenging his authority to shutter “non-life-sustaining” businesses, declaring that unprecedented action is needed to combat a global pandemic they called “perhaps the biggest catastrophe of our lifetimes.”

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Berks County District Attorney John T. Adams has said it is not feasible to enforce Wolf’s business-closure mandate, saying there are no statutes to back it up and law enforcement has more pressing matters.

Adams said he is hoping residents voluntarily comply with Wolf.

Under pressure from Republicans and business groups, Wolf agreed to delay enforcement of the shutdown order until Monday. His administration also agreed to exempt additional businesses from the shutdown, including the timber industry, coal mines, hotels, accountants and laundromats.

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“Petitioners’ argument that the global COVID-19 pandemic is somehow not a disaster demonstrates a dangerous level of myopathy about the effect this pandemic could have on the citizens of the commonwealth and our health care system if the spread of this disease is not arrested,” the attorney general’s office wrote.

Wolf’s administration has steadfastly refused to confirm to The Associated Press whether gun shops are covered by his shutdown order. Its legal filing said the governor’s office used industry codes generated by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics to construct its list of businesses covered by the shutdown order.

link: https://www.readingeagle.com/news/local/gov-tom-wolf-on-defense-as-berks-county-records-more/article_71e31ee0-6bb3-11ea-b7b2-3379b9740244.html#disqus_thread


Depressing but not unexpected for this area. IMO, if you don't want to follow this order then don't show up in the emergency room if you get COVID-19.