Wolf, stay at home order. Gun show lawsuite to stay open dismissed. Wolf not tested.

[QuackXP]

Wolf issues stay-at-home order for Allegheny, hardest-hit counties; goes into effect at 8 p.m.

Associated Press
Mar 23, 2020
3:07 PM

HARRISBURG — Gov. Tom Wolf has ordered residents of the state’s hardest-hit areas, including Allegheny County, to stay home to help combat the spread of the new coronavirus that has already sickened hundreds and caused three deaths statewide, his spokeswoman said Monday.

Mr. Wolf issued the stay-at-home order for Philadelphia and its surrounding counties; Allegheny County, including Pittsburgh; and Monroe County in the Pocono Mountains, said spokeswoman Lyndsay Kensinger.

Together, those counties account for 75% of the state’s confirmed cases of COVID-19.

According to Allegheny County, there is no curfew in place, but the order goes into effect at 8 p.m. Monday. The order has been issued for two weeks.

According to the county, the order “emphasizes that individuals in the county, to the extent possible, should stay at home and distance themselves from others.

“There is no change to the life-sustaining businesses and waivers that have previously been in place,” the county added, “or to the requirements for restaurants to limit their operations to take-out and delivery.”

Other details about the directive, which will cover 5.5 million people, or more than 40% of the state’s population, are expected Monday afternoon.

It’s the latest in a series of progressively tougher measures imposed by Mr. Wolf in the face of a global pandemic that state officials say threatens to swamp hospitals and spike the death toll. Mr. Wolf had already closed schools and ordered all “non-life-sustaining” businesses to close their physical locations, an edict that state police and other government agencies began enforcing Monday morning.

COURT DISMISSES LAWSUIT ON NONESSENTIAL BUSINESSES

Late Sunday, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit filed by a gun shop that challenged Mr. Wolf’s authority to close businesses deemed nonessential.

Without comment, a narrow majority of the state’s high court denied the petition by a gun shop, a gun purchaser and a law firm to have the shutdown order thrown out. The lawsuit had claimed the edict violated the Second Amendment right to bear arms and other constitutional rights.

The court also said a legal challenge to Mr. Wolf’s order to close law offices had become moot because of subsequent action that lets lawyers work from their physical locations to perform duties deemed essential by county or federal judges.

The Democratic governor has ordered all nonessential businesses to close their physical locations indefinitely, saying the measure is needed to help slow the spread of the new coronavirus and prevent hospitals from becoming overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients.

In a dissenting statement joined by two other justices, Justice David Wecht said Mr. Wolf’s order amounts to “an absolute and indefinite prohibition upon the acquisition of firearms by the citizens of this commonwealth — a result in clear tension with the Second Amendment” and the state constitution. He called on Mr. Wolf to make some allowance for the in-person sale of firearms.

WOLF NOT TESTED AFTER ALL

Just hours after saying Gov. Tom Wolf had tested negative for the coronavirus out of concern he had been exposed, the governor’s office inexplicably backtracked Monday and said he had in fact not received a test.

“The information we provided to you was an error,” Mike Brunelle, Mr. Wolf’s chief of staff, said in an apology to Spotlight PA.

Brunelle did not explain how the error happened. Lyndsay Kensinger, a spokesperson for Wolf, said, “Incorrect information was provided by an administration official.”

In its initial response, Mr. Wolf’s office explained that the governor’s office was contacted by a person who had feared exposure and said they had been near Wolf. As a result, the office said, Mr. Wolf was tested and was confirmed to be negative.

But in its reversal, Mr. Brunelle said enough time had elapsed between when Mr. Wolf may have been exposed to the person; and because the governor was showing no symptoms, he decided to forgo a test.

The governor is working remotely but is not in quarantine. The same applies to his cabinet secretaries and executive and management staff.

Mr. Wolf has in the past week been conducting briefings separately from Health Secretary Rachel Levine, who has been providing updates from the state’s emergency management headquarters outside Harrisburg. His public schedule, which is posted on his government website, has not been updated since March 5, the day before Wolf declared a disaster emergency as the first cases of COVID-19 were reported in Pennsylvania.

That week, his schedule shows, the governor was in Philadelphia, Montgomery, and Monroe Counties — areas that reported some of the earliest cases of the virus.

Most of the state’s six legislative leaders, some of whom are scheduled to be in the Capitol this week, said they are not exhibiting any symptoms and had not been tested.

One — House Majority Leader Bryan Cutler, R-Lancaster — said he did not want to share any medical information about himself. Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati, R-Jefferson, did not respond to questions.

Though testing for COVID-19 has increased in the past week — with hospitals, health systems, and private labs either taking samples, administering tests, or both — mass testing is not widely available.

Levine has urged people who are asymptomatic or who have mild symptoms to stay home and reach out to a doctor if needed. She said testing is being prioritized for people who are exhibiting severe symptoms, have an underlying health condition, are elderly, or are health care workers.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Spotlight PA contributed. An earlier version of this story said Mr. Wolf had been tested. His office later said he had not been tested.

https://www.post-gazette.com/local/r...s/202003230080

[steelerfan]

Since Wolf and other politicians are telling us to stay home without pay maybe they should lead by example and do the same

[akley88]

there is another thread talking about this. this was dismissed because Wolf changed the non-essential businesses list to allow lawyers to work from home. Joshua is not resting after this dismissal. a different plaintiff is needed that falls under the "nonessential" list that has been damaged.