Gov. Wolf Lays Out 3-Stage Plan To Fight Coronavirus

HARRISBURG, PA — Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf on Monday offered a glimpse into the state's future as it deals with the coronavirus pandemic, outlining a trio of steps he believes are necessary to get through the crisis and onto recovery.

In a public address, Wolf sought to assuage anxieties over the state's faltering economy and commended residents for their "calm determination" in staying the course to adhere to social distancing measures that he said are responsible for the recent flattening of the curve of new coronavirus cases.

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He offered a broad outline of what lies ahead as the state moves from the thick of the crisis into recovery and a "new normal." He did not offer a time frame or an estimate of the duration of each stage.

Pennsylvania is currently in the first stage — dealing with the immediate impacts of the health crisis, Wolf explained. Officials are "focused on simply buying time to allow our health care system to build the capacity we need it to have."

Pennsylvania's first coronavirus case was confirmed March 6. Since then, the total number of COVID-19 cases has swelled to 24,199 and 524 deaths as of Monday.

While acknowledging "we want this stage to be over with as quickly as possible," Wolf noted many things must align in order to advance to the next phase, which is the transitional stage.

"It will take us from where we are now to the new normal that we’ll face down the road," he said.

The third stage is that "new normal," the governor said.

To begin moving from stage one to the transitional phase, Wolf said he'll be observing several factors, including data that shows a sustained drop in the number of cases and an increase in equipment needed by health care workers to treat an influx of patients. Those items include not only personal protective equipment — such as masks, face shields, gloves and gowns — but also ventilators and beds.

“We have worked hard to buy time to do the things we should have done to be ready for the crisis. It is a strategy that has been aimed at keeping us safe, but it has involved a whole host of painful sacrifices," Wolf said.

He pointed to millions of people across the state making sacrifices, including shutting businesses, staying home from work and school, and forgoing visits with loved ones.

All of the state's schools were closed March 17, and all nonessential services were ordered closed March 23. A statewide stay-at-home order was instituted April 1.

“So far, this strategy is working," Wolf said. “We are making real progress."

This fact has been reiterated in recent updates from Pennsylvania Health Secretary Rachel Levine. "Previously, we were seeing an exponential rise of COVID-19," she said during an update Monday. And while there are still high numbers of new cases daily, "we're not seeing as many new cases as we had before."

The "tentative conclusion" is that the state has been able to bend the curve, Levine during Sunday's briefing.

But the picture remains far from rosy. "People are still dying, the economy is still tanking, and we know that the draconian steps we are now taking cannot go on forever," Wolf said.

While residents are anxious to get through the first phase, how we do so is "still far from perfectly clear," Wolf said. He did not give an estimate for when he would consider lifting the state's stay-at-home orders and nonessential business closures. Levine has recently said she anticipates a phased reopening of those entities. Schools have already been ordered closed through the academic year.

The governor noted the movement to the next phase will be contingent not only on metrics signaling the prevalence of the disease, but also abundant and enhanced testing.

"We need tests that can tell us when we are sick, and we need tests that can tell us when we are immune," the governor said.

Wolf cited recent comments from Dr. Anthony Fauci, the leading infectious disease expert on the White House's coronavirus task force.

Fauci "has told us that we are only a week or so away from a rollout of an effective antibody test that will be able to tell us if we have developed an immunity to the COVID-19 virus," Wolf said. "That immunity will allow our front-line health care workers and our first responders to do their work unencumbered by the fear of infection to the extent that we satisfy ourselves that we can safely go back to work, to school or to places of worship; we can begin the work of moving out of this painful phase. And the hope is that we can do it in a reasonable time frame."

While the transitional phase will be an improvement over the current conditions, "the real goal" is to fully resume normal life, Wolf acknowledged. "This will require time along with a recognition that the new normal will be different from the old normal we had grown used to," he said.

“We will need to build stockpiles of the things a health care system needs to face deadly infectious diseases. We will need time to develop effective treatments for these infectious diseases — maybe even a cure. We will need time to develop vaccines. And, we will all need time to rebuild our lives and our communities in ways that conform to the new altered normal," he said.

Wolf implored residents to not become complacent. "We will get through this," he said.

“I recognize that what is being asked of each of us is hard. Before this awful disease attacked us, we could be who we were, defined by our jobs, our friends, our neighbors and our families and our pastimes. Now, we have asked ourselves to isolate ourselves, to stop doing what we were doing or making or interacting. And, we could be forgiven for wondering if it’s worth it," he said.

But he pointed to the reduction in the rates of new coronavirus cases to prove the social distancing efforts are "saving lives."

Earlier Monday, Wolf announced Pennsylvania would join a coalition of seven Northeastern states to create a task force for a regional approach to reopen in the wake of the outbreak.

The regional council formation, led by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, also includes New Jersey, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Delaware and Massachusetts.

The council will be charged with developing a fully integrated regional framework to gradually lift the states' stay-at-home orders. The group will include a public health expert and economic development expert, plus the chief of staff of each governor.

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The coordinated public health strategy and an economic strategy will set up the path to reopen businesses and schools, and return people to life beyond staying at home, while also working to prevent a resurgence of the coronavirus.

"We are looking forward to reopening but reopening with a plan, and a smart plan," Cuomo said.

The region has been hard hit by the virus, with more than 103,000 cases in New York and more than 64,000 in New Jersey. More than 6,800 people have died in New York as of Monday, and more than 2,300 have died in New Jersey.

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This article originally appeared on the Doylestown Patch