Pennsylvania Governor, Tom Wolf, announced revised COVID-19 measures on Monday, halting alcohol sales the day before Thanksgiving.
“Thanksgiving is the biggest day of drinking; the ban will help to prevent the spread of the virus. All the bars and restaurants are instructed to stop selling alcohol from 5 pm Wednesday – 8 am Thursday. I don’t want to enforce another lockdown in Pennsylvania. Thus, I request you all to stay indoors. I hope Pennsylvanians will take all the safety measures seriously,” Said Wolf.
The State Governor also advised people to avoid large gatherings and encouraged them to keep wearing masks and following WHO suggested SOPs.
He also said Pennysylvania is at risk of witnessing a spike in covid-19 cases in December – It can rise as high as 22000 cases per day. “Our health care system is in crisis, and the hospitalizations have crossed the limit. We can not afford any mistake at this stage.
You all need to be extra careful to save yourself and people around you,” said Wolf.
He informed the nation about possible difficulties they can face if they won’t follow the state advised measures. “What if we run out of hospital beds or our medical staff gets exhausted? Not only the corona patients but all the regular patients, including those who’re suffering from other diseases or have met an accident, will suffer. We all don’t want this to happen; thus, I repeat, redouble your efforts!” said Wolf.
The Pennsylvania Licensed Beverage and Tavern Association responded to the State order of halting alcohol sales on Wednesday.
The PLBTA executive director said, “It is time again to show responsibility and follow the government’s instruction to save Penyysylvanian’s lives. We’ve no other option as Covid cases are increasing rapidly, and we have to sacrifice.
This indeed is bad news for the industry, but we are happy that the government announced liability protection to businesses enforcing mask rules.”
The average positive rate of corona patients is 11% across Pennsylvania, except for one county with a less than 5% positivity rate.