May 4, 2020 3 min read

State officials began discussions Monday on when and where Gov. Tom Wolf will allow some businesses to reopen next during the COVID-19 pandemic.

State health Sec. Rachel Levine said Wolf and her staff will be looking at data trends Tuesday and Thursday when COVID-19 deaths and testing results come in after a lag in reporting over the weekend.

“There is not a specific timeline,” Levine said during an online briefing on the state’s response to the novel coronavirus.

Wolf has not set a date for when he will make the final decision on moving the next counties from red to yellow under his color-coded plan for easing restrictions on the virus that has killed 2,458 people statewide since March 6. There have been more that 50,000 people who have tested positive for the virus.

Wolf has already moved 24 counties in north-central and northeastern Pennsylvania into the yellow zone, allowing them to reopen retail and ease his stay-home order beginning Friday. Southwestern Pennsylvania, including Washington and Greene counties, remain in the red zone due to their proximity to the densely populated Pittsburgh area.

Pennsylvanians have done an excellent job of staying at home and social distancing, and helping to slow the spread of the virus, Levine said.

She said those mitigation efforts, including school closures, kept the state from seeing a larger surge in cases and its hospitals becoming overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients.

“I think that is a success,” Levine said.

The state also will consider the availability of testing and contact tracing in deciding the next regions that will be moved into the yellow zone, she said.

Allegheny County has gone two straight days without reporting a new COVID-19 death, its health department reported Monday.

There have been 102 deaths from the virus in Allegheny since mid-March, a number that has held steady since Sunday, the department said.

“We must continue to protect our most vulnerable Pennsylvanians, which includes our seniors, those with underlying health issues, our health care workers and our first responders,” Levine said Monday.

People in the yellow zones will still be urged to wear masks in public, work remotely and stay home as much as possible, she said.

Pennsylvania reported 14 new COVID-19 deaths Monday.

Washington County, which has reported two deaths from the virus, added a new positive case, taking its total to 120. Greene County, where the first death from the virus was reported Sunday, remained at 27 positive cases.

Allegheny reported 20 new cases of the novel coronavirus, taking its total Monday to 1,365.