As officials navigate boundaries of reopening, Philadelphia weighs outdoor dining and Delaware opens campgrounds
Philadelphia will not immediately allow outdoor dining when it moves to the yellow phase, despite approval from the state. The city will issue its own guidance on outdoor dining next week after the mayor’s office reviews whether to permit it and how to do so.
All Pennsylvania state park beaches and some pools will reopen at reduced capacity in June, and Delaware campgrounds at state parks will reopen Monday, officials said Thursday — more gradual steps toward emerging from the coronavirus lockdown as summer approaches.
New Jersey officials laid out guidelines for outdoor graduation ceremonies, which will be permitted with limitations starting July 6. In Pennsylvania, focus was on Tuesday’s primary election, which will look different from any before. In Bucks County, officials said voters who refuse to wear masks at the polls will be asked to fill out a provisional ballot outside their polling place or wait until other voters are done and the polling place has cleared out.
The day after the U.S. coronavirus death toll passed 100,000, the region’s shifting regulations and precautions attempted to accommodate some of those rituals — of summer, of democracy, of convocation — that have, like all others, been derailed by the pandemic.
Philadelphia officials said they would release reopening guidelines for businesses and residents on Friday, along with a list of virus metrics the city is tracking.
Officials expect Philadelphia to move to the “yellow” phase of reopening next Friday, though they repeated that the city won’t reopen “if the numbers get bad.” The Wolf administration confirmed that counties can move to the reopening phase more slowly at their discretion.
Health Commissioner Thomas Farley declined to say what number of cases might dissuade him from moving the city into the yellow phase next week. “If the numbers doubled, I would be very concerned," he said.
While residents should be prepared for the possibility that the move might be delayed, Mayor Jim Kenney said he did not want “to be totally negative about it.”
“The point is, we need to be realistic with people, we need to be upfront with people,” Kenney said. “I’m hoping and praying — and encouraged — that we can get there on June 5.”
Philadelphia is still reviewing whether and how to permit outdoor dining, despite Gov. Tom Wolf’s office’s this week approving it for yellow counties. The city will issue its own decision next week about whether outdoor dining can begin when the city transitions to the yellow phase.
“No restaurant should be announcing plans to launch outdoor dining on June 5” based on the Wolf administration’s announcement, Kenney said Thursday. “We are still determining how this will work in Philadelphia.”
City officials said they will need to determine how to keep sidewalks accessible while allowing outdoor dining and requiring social distancing between tables. The city may change curb lines and make other adjustments — something Kenney said would be “extremely complicated.”
Also on Thursday, Kenney withdrew a 3.95% property tax hike proposed in his coronavirus budget — an increase that would have provided $57 million for the School District — after state lawmakers included funding in their budget to help fill a budget hole for the city’s schools.
“As soon as the Senate did that this morning, we were free to step away from the proposal,” Kenney said Thursday.
Kenney’s proposed budget still includes increases in the city’s parking tax and wage tax for non-residents who commute to work in the city. His proposal would also freeze planned reductions in business taxes and the wage tax rate for city residents and eliminate a discount for property owners who pay their bills early. Those measures would raise an estimated $49 million in the next fiscal year.
Farley announced 175 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 10 additional deaths in Philadelphia. Montgomery County officials announced the number of cases has increased by 26% in the last two weeks, with people under 50 getting infected at a higher rate.
“As we move into the yellow phase, we have to keep in mind that the yellow phase is a slow opening,” said Val Arkoosh, chair of the Montgomery County commissioners.
Pennsylvania surpassed 70,000 confirmed coronavirus cases, the state said Thursday, adding 625 additional positive cases for a total of 70,042 and 108 newly reported deaths for a total of 5,373.
Neither Wolf nor Health Secretary Rachel Levine held news conferences on Thursday, but the governor announced in a statement that the state has sent testing supplies for more than 67,000 patients to more than 60 hospitals, facilities, and local health departments.
» READ MORE: Pennsylvania Democrats want to know why they weren’t told when a Republican lawmaker tested positive for coronavirus
Financially struggling Pennsylvanians were urged by officials Thursday to apply for pandemic relief programs at compass.state.pa.gov.
The state’s recovery crisis program can provide residents with money toward utility bills; its emergency assistance program can help qualifying families that have lost significant income due to the pandemic; and its electronic benefits transfer program can help families eligible for reduced-price school meals, Department of Human Services Secretary Teresa Miller said Thursday.
“You may not think these programs are for you,” Miller said, “but they can help make these difficult times a little easier.”
Announcing that all Pennsylvania park beaches will be open for swimming starting June 6, the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources said the planned reopening was consistent with Wolf’s aim “to ensure Pennsylvanians have opportunities to safely enjoy outdoor recreation and help maintain positive physical and mental health.”
Most pools will reopen at half capacity June 13 in both yellow and green counties, officials said.
As of Thursday, all state parks and forests had at least one bathroom facility open for visitors, the department said, with enhanced cleaning protocols in place.
Some campgrounds in Pennsylvania are already open with restrictions, though group tent camping sites at state parks in the Philadelphia region remain closed. New Jersey’s campgrounds opened Friday.
And Delaware campers will be able beginning Monday to stay in tents, RVs, cabins, cottages, and yurts at Cape Henlopen, Delaware Seashore, Indian River Marina, Killens Pond, Lums Pond, and Trap Pond, the state’s Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control said Thursday.
New Jersey reported 1,261 newly confirmed coronavirus cases for a total of 157,815 and 66 deaths for a total of 11,401.
The numbers of people in the hospital, in critical care or on ventilators because of the coronavirus are all down more than 60% since the pandemic’s peak in mid-April, Gov. Phil Murphy said. On Tuesday, 24,000 people were tested for the coronavirus, surpassing Murphy’s goal to have at least 20,000 people tested per day by the end of May.
After President Donald Trump extended funding for National Guard deployments, Murphy announced Thursday the National Guard will remain deployed in the state until mid-August, saying the extended assistance would be “a big game-changer.”
National Guard members have been working at New Jersey’s long-term-care facilities to tame the spread of the virus among the state’s most vulnerable population and also help operate two FEMA testing sites in northern and central New Jersey.
Each state relying on the National Guard to assist in the pandemic response will be able to take advantage of the funding extension.
Murphy urged residents not to derail progress.
"We’ve got to make sure things are in fact going in the direction we want to go,” he said. “We’ve been on a one-way street, and we don’t want to have to turn the car around and go back the other direction.”
Staff writers Pranshu Verma, Jonathan Lai, and Ellie Rushing contributed to this article.