Friday, April 24, 2020
Commonwealth Modifies Date for Construction to May 1, Provides Guidance
Gov. Tom Wolf has confirmed that he is moving up the date for opening construction statewide to May 1 from the previously announced May 8. This date to resume construction activities is for projects that were previously permitted.
The Administration issued detailed guidance that all construction must follow in addition to the Secretary of Health’s order for business safety measures, including the mandatory use of masks. The construction guidance contains procedures for residential and commercial construction, including handwashing and sanitizing stations for workers, ensuring that employees are traveling to the work site separately, and appointment of a pandemic officer for each site. Residential construction sites will be limited to four persons at a job site and commercial sites may have four persons per 2,000 square feet, plus one additional person for each additional 500 square feet.
The guidance specifically authorizes UCC plan review and inspection services to begin on May 1.
Commonwealth Provides Additional Reopening Details, Including Advance Notice
On Wednesday, Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine explained that the phased reopening of Pennsylvania would be by regions that may not be confirmed until May 8. Levine noted that the southeast would not be moving to yellow on May 8 due to the current levels of new cases. From statements made by the administration, it appears that only the northwest and northcentral regions are under consideration to begin reopening on May 8.
With that said, the Department of Health has released additional data, including seven-day average case reporting and graphics, that are by region and list the counties included in each region.
In addition to having an average number of cases of less than 50 per day per 100,000 population, healthcare capabilities and testing availability would be part of the metrics considered. Moving to reopen would also include aggressive containment measures, including testing, isolation, contact tracing, and quarantine for contacts. More details are expected soon on these measures.
Reopening announcements are expected to be made public several days before the new phase will take effect.