18 PA Counties Now In Green Phase: How Daily Life Will Change

PENNSYLVANIA — The first Pennsylvania counties have been moved to the green phase of coronavirus mitigation. The rest of Pennsylvania — including the Philadelphia region — is expected to move to the yellow phase by June 5, and some are already looking ahead to the next step.

Eighteen counties were moved to the green phase today (Friday, May 29). Those counties are Bradford, Cameron, Centre, Clarion, Clearfield, Crawford, Elk, Forest, Jefferson, Lawrence, McKean, Montour, Potter, Snyder, Sullivan, Tioga, Venango, and Warren.

On Friday, Gov. Tom Wolf announced 16 additional counties would move to green on June 5. Those counties are: Allegheny, Butler, Washington, Westmoreland, Armstrong, Bedford, Blair, Cambria, Clinton, Fayette, Fulton, Greene, Indiana, Lycoming, Mercer and Somerset Counties.

The developments come as 693 additional positive cases of COVID-19 were reported Friday, bringing the statewide total to 70,735. There have been 5,464 coronavirus deaths in the state.

So how will daily life change for residents of counties in the green zone?

Restaurants and bars can reopen their interior dining areas at 50 percent capacity, with these restrictions in place.

Personal care services, including hair salons and barbershops, are permitted to reopen in the green phase, but they must operate by appointment only. Gyms and spas can reopen, but appointments or reservations are also strongly encouraged there too.

Businesses allowed to operate at 50 percent occupancy in the yellow phase can increase to 75 percent occupancy.

Gatherings of up to 250 people are allowed in the green phase. But anything bigger than that is prohibited, including concerts, festivals, fairs, sporting events, and theater performances. Churches, synagogues, temples, mosques and other places of congregate worship are specifically excluded from the limitations, the governor's office said.

Youth sports can resume in the green phase.

Visitations to prisons and hospitals can resume in the green phase, under the discretion of the facility.

"Given the critical importance of limiting COVID-19 exposure in nursing homes, nursing home visitation restrictions will initially remain in place," the governor's office said.

Other aspects of the green phase include:

• Continued telework strongly encouraged
• Childcare can reopen following guidance
• Schools are subject to CDC and state guidance
• Casinos, theaters, and shopping malls can reopen at 50 percent occupancy
• Construction activity can return to full capacity with continued implementation of protocols

While the green phase has been called a return to a new normal, state officials say they will continue to monitor public health indicators "and adjust orders and restrictions as necessary to ensure the spread of disease remains at a minimum."

When will counties move from yellow to green?

Counties that remain in red and are expected to move to yellow by June 5 include Berks, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Lackawanna, Lancaster, Lehigh, Northampton, Montgomery, and Philadelphia. RELATED: What You Can And Can't Do In PA's 'Yellow' Phase

After a county transitions to the yellow phase, state officials said they'll be "closely monitoring" for increased risk, such as significant outbreaks. "If overall risk remains mitigated for 14 days, we will transition the county to the green phase," the governor's plan says.

In addition to case numbers, state officials in partnership with researchers at Carnegie Mellon University are assessing several other risk factors to determine if a region can safely advance to the next phase. Those risk indices include commuters, ICU bed availability, population density, population age, and contact risk.

The indices are one factor in the process to reopen, according to the data.

"These indices are provided to the state as one of many inputs they consider in making decisions affecting the process to reopen Pennsylvania," the most recent presentation states. You can see the most recent Carnegie Mellon data here.

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