33 More PA Restaurants Ordered To Shut Down For COVID Violations
PENNSYLVANIA — State officials in Pennsylvania are continuing to take action against restaurants refusing to comply with the mandate to cease indoor dining.
Another 33 restaurants were ordered to be shut down for COVID-19 violations between Dec. 21 and Dec. 27, the Department of Agriculture announced on Tuesday. That's in addition to the 40 that saw enforcement actions close their doors earlier this month.
But even these mandated closures — so-called enforcement measures — have been met with resistance, and have not been fully effective.
Of the 73 restaurants that have been ordered closed, 22 were continuing to offer indoor dining as of Dec. 23, according to officials. The Department of Health is now seeking an injunction in Commonwealth Court, both to have the court order the restaurants to close and to have the restaurants pay damages for "willful and wanton" violations.
A representative for Gov. Tom Wolf's office previously told Patch that local police would be tasked with enforcing orders that were not followed.
But restaurant advocates remain adamant that the orders are not law.
>>List Of PA Businesses Defying Closure Orders Grows To 600
"Some people believe that the mandates (have) been given the force of law," shared attorney Eric Winter with the Prince Law Firm, which is representing the restaurant industry in several lawsuits challenging the orders across the state. "This is not the case. There is no final decision as to anything at this point."
Gov. Wolf's administration has said the opposite.
"The governor and Secretary of Health’s orders were issued pursuant to the authority granted to them under the law, and as such they have the force and effect of law," Gov. Wolf's press secretary Lyndsay Kensinger said. "This authority extends to all local enforcement agencies in Pennsylvania."
These new closures announced Tuesday were spread around the state, with handfuls of establishments shut down in numerous counties. Lancaster County, home to 11 of these 33 new closures, was the only county with more than three.
The Bureau of Food Safety conducted another 381 inspections during the Dec. 21 through Dec. 27 time period, with 50 of them performed in response to public complaints regarding COVID-19 violations.
An order to close is a last measure, as the state employs "progressive discipline" that involves a warning followed by a citation. Only repeat offenders, who refuse the
Meanwhile, nearly 600 restaurants and gyms are now listed on a directory advertising their open defiance of the mitigations orders, which ban indoor dining, limit crowd sizes, and close gyms.
The state's mitigation orders are in place through Jan. 4.
This article originally appeared on the Norristown Patch
