Wolf orders Philly and suburbs to stay at home to slow coronavirus

Do not leave your house unless you are buying groceries, picking up pharmacy items, or helping sustain life, Gov. Tom Wolf told residents of Philadelphia, Montgomery, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Monroe, and Allegheny Counties on Monday, putting them under a stay-at-home order. Philadelphia News With exceptions for critical errands and work designated essential, keeping the 5.5 million people in those counties at home until at least April 6 offers officials the best chance to slow the spread of the coronavirus in Pennsylvania and keep from taxing the state’s health-care system, Wolf said. "Before we can recover, we must survive. And to do that, every one of us must do our part,” Wolf said.

His directive effectively extended to six other counties a stay-at-home order that Mayor Jim Kenney put in effect in Philadelphia on Monday morning. The city and the other counties affected by Wolf’s order — including the one that contains Pittsburgh — represent the state’s worst areas of virus spread. The governor also ordered schools statewide to stay closed for an additional two weeks. Philadelphia Medical News Residents in the rest of Pennsylvania continue to be urged by officials to stay home, practice social distancing, and keep six feet away from others.

Gov. John Carney ordered Delaware residents

“You must stay in your homes unless not leaving your home endangers a life,” said Wolf, who spoke from his home via video Monday. “That’s what’s going to … buy us the time that we need to allow our health-care system to build the capacity they need to treat all of us.”

On Sunday, Gov. John Carney ordered Delaware residents to stay home and nonessential businesses to close starting at 8 a.m. Tuesday. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy put residents under the same order on Saturday. Philadelphia Political News

The new restrictions came as the U.S. surgeon general warned the country Monday that “this week, it’s going to get bad,” and the World Health Organization said the spread of the virus was accelerating. The United States reported more than 100 deaths on Monday, marking the first day with a triple-digit death toll since the pandemic arrived and pushing the country’s total fatalities past 500.

Six people in Pennsylvania and 27 people in New Jersey have died of the virus; no deaths have been reported in Delaware. On Monday, Pennsylvania reported 644 cases, New Jersey 2,844, and Delaware 87. Philadelphia Distribution Services

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