Area businesses counting down to reopening

By KRISTIE LINDEN

klinden@yourmvi.com

This will be a week of anticipation for Mon Valley residents as Gov. Tom Wolf announced last week that the area will be among the 13 counties to move to the yellow phase of reopening at 12:01 a.m. Friday.

The counties are Allegheny, Armstrong, Bedford, Blair, Butler, Cambria, Fayette, Fulton, Greene, Indiana, Somerset, Washington and Westmoreland.

Yellow means many retail businesses will open, but not all, and some of the restrictions of the stay-at-home order remain in place. For example, hair salons and gyms will remain closed, and restaurants will continue to operate by take-out and delivery only.

“Washington County businesses and residents should be proud,” said Washington County Chamber of Commerce President Jeff Kotula. “After weeks of committing to the Pennsylvania Department of Health’s stay-at-home guidelines, practicing social distancing and using personal safety protections to prevent the spread of COVID-19, our patient efforts have paid off with Governor Wolf’s announcement that Washington County will now be moved to the yellow phase of reopening our economy.”

Kotula said those efforts came at an economic and social cost, and for the yellow counties to continue to improve and move to the green phase, “we must recommit to the same principles that made us successful in the first place.”

“Washington County was able to reach the yellow phase by diligently following the guidelines of health experts, but it is not the time for us to let our guard down,” Kotula said. “As we begin to be out more often and move around our community and businesses in greater numbers, we must still be mindful of social distancing and encourage our families, neighbors and businesses to remain in compliance with public health guidelines and, above all, stay healthy.”

Wolf also reminded residents and business owners that yellow means caution and that everyone needs to continue to be mindful of their actions and how they affect not only themselves, but their families, friends and community.

State Sen. Camera Bartolotta, R-Carroll Township, said she trusts entrepreneurs to know how to safely conduct business when it’s time to reopen and to find a way to keep their customers healthy and their businesses open.

“Our entrepreneurs don’t want to hurt their employees or customers or themselves,” Bartolotta said. “Many of them can provide services to customers without contact at all and they’re not being allowed to. I trust entrepreneurs who can operate very safely. Protecting lives and livelihood are not mutually exclusive.”

Although the governor included Butler, Fayette, Greene and Washington counties in the next round of reopenings, a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Wolf’s orders will continue, said Washington County Commissioner Chairwoman Diana Irey Vaughan.

County commissioners from Butler, Fayette, Greene and Washington claim they have suffered a loss of tax revenue due to the shutdown.

Businesses that joined in the four-county lawsuit, which names Wolf and state Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine, include several hair salons, two drive-in theaters, a race horse trainer and a farm. The business owners say they have suffered financial hardships and a loss of livelihood and property due to the shutdown.

Irey Vaughan said the suit is about the First and 14th amendments, and at the heart it questions the constitutionality of designating certain businesses essential and others non-essential with a lack of due process. She said it’s akin to the unlawful taking of property without compensation due to the closing of businesses.

Irey Vaughan said the case has been assigned to U.S. District Court Judge William S. Stickman IV in the Western District of Pennsylvania.

There have now been 56,611 cases of coronavirus in the state, including 2,373 new cases since Friday. There were 91 new deaths reported for a total of 3,707.

Allegheny County now has 1,503 cases, an increase of 48 patients. There were three new deaths reported for a new total of 122.

In Fayette County, there was one new case and no new deaths reported since Friday; those totals are at 85 and four respectively.

Washington County saw three new cases for a new total of 124 patients. The county reported no new deaths, that total is four fatalities.

Westmoreland County added four new cases over the weekend for a total of 417 and, according to the DOH, there were no new deaths and that total is 30. Westmoreland County Coroner Ken Bacha reports no additional deaths, and the total he is tracking is 32.