Twenty-four Pennsylvania counties will be allowed to start reopening next Friday, but Allegheny is not one of them.
Under a plan announced today by Governor Tom Wolf and secretary of health Rachel Levine, stay-at-home orders will be lifted and retail stores will be allowed to reopen in those 24 counties, which are in the north-western and north-central portions of the Commonwealth.
Lawrence County is the closest of those to Pittsburgh.
Stay-at-home orders will remain in effect for the other 43 counties in Pennsylvania, although it's possible this part of the state will get clearance to begin moving out of the total-shutdown stage in the not-too-distant future.
“The southwest region is not yet moving from red to yellow, particularly in Allegheny County and Pittsburgh, because of population and density," Levine said. "Because those are the main factors that can lead to a significant spread of COVID-19. We’ve seen that in larger cities in the country, like New York."
Wolf said the counties that will move into the "yellow" stage of reopening next Friday were chosen because they have had fewer coronavirus infections and deaths than other parts of the state. Those counties will be allowed to gather in groups of up to 25.
“We've selected these counties, in part, because they have low per-capita case counts,” he said. “They must continue to abide by the underlying message of 'yellow': Proceed with caution. The yellow phase recognizes that outbreaks of COVID-19 are still possible."
These changes take effect May 8, leaving any potential return to sports in Allegheny County open-ended for now. While recent talks have considered the potential for an abbreviated spring training at PNC Park or the return of the NHL season to Pittsburgh and its surrounding practice facilities, that will be impossible until Wolf re-opens the county in full.
For now, it's still code red, which means no sports and no definite plans for sports. The waiting game continues.
