Beaver County issued the following announcement on July 15.
Local restaurants are going to be a lot less crowded this weekend.
Gov. Tom Wolf on Wednesday announced a series of dining restrictions that caps the number of people allowed to eat indoors and shutters bars that don’t also serve meals.
According to the order, which takes effect Thursday, restaurants are only allowed to operate at 25 percent fire code capacity for indoor dining. That number includes staff. A “discrete” gathering at an indoor food establishment is limited to 25 people.
Bars can only serve alcohol if a patron is seated at a table and has a meal on their bill as well. Bars that do not serve sit-down meals are not allowed to serve alcohol.
As for outdoor dining, all customers being served must be seated at a table. Social distancing, masking and other mitigation measures must be employed to protect workers and customers, Wolf said.
Non-bar seating in outdoor areas (i.e., tables or counter seats that do not line up to a bar or food service area) may be used for customer seating.
Gone is eating at a bar — all service must be at a table or booth. Nightclubs are also shuttered under the order.
Shell cases
The number of cases of COVID-19 at Shell Chemicals’ ethane cracker plant continued to grow this week. According to an information sheet distributed to employees on Wednesday, there have been 17 positive cases of COVID-19 at the plant since March. That’s six more than last Thursday.
Five employees have recovered. A total of 73 are currently self-isolating, while 197 have been screened for the virus.
Beaver County Commissioner Chairman Daniel Camp said Wolf’s decision isn’t what’s best for business in Beaver County.
“The residents in Beaver County and citizens across the commonwealth are realizing that there is no light at the end of the tunnel. The small businesses in Beaver County are starting to fail and close because of the back and forth,” Camp said. “The new restrictions are not going to stop patrons from having alcoholic drinks because they have to purchase food, is the governor going to make sure they eat the food?”
Local restaurateurs said they’re all concerned about how these changes will impact business.
“They’re taking us from 50 percent to 25 percent? We’re all worried about it. A couple of places around here have already closed.” Jay Wooley, owner of Wooley Bully’s Juke-Joint in New Brighton, said.
For instance, Rainaldi’s Restaurant in Center Township announced June 1 it was closing after 15 years.
Additionally, indoor gatherings, regardless of food service, is restricted to 25 people. Outdoor gatherings, however, will remain at the 250 person cap set by the state’s “green phase” order.
Wolf’s order doesn’t just address dining. It doubles down on the request for companies to conduct teleworking. If possible, all businesses are required to conduct operations in whole or in part remotely. If telework is not possible, employees may conduct in-person business operations so long as the business complies with all of the major portions of the business safety order, worker safety order and the masking order.
Gyms and fitness centers are also impacted. While they are allowed to remain open, masks must be worn and indoor facilities have to provide for social distancing. Those facilities are directed to prioritize outdoor fitness activities.
The comes a week after officials in four southwestern Pennsylvania counties were told that indoor dining restrictions would likely be enacted to slow the spread of COVID-19. Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said Monday that those mitigation plans were on hold.
Wolf criticized those who are ignoring the mask mandate when they go to bars and restaurants.
“They are unknowingly spreading and unknowingly picking up the virus,” Wolf said. “This carelessness has resulted in pockets of super spreading.”
Cases continued to climb in southwestern Pennsylvania on Wednesday. In Beaver County, a significantly lower percentage of tests came back positive for the novel coronavirus than the past two days. The 14 new cases of COVID-19 represented a 5.7 percent positivity rate. In Lawrence County, there were seven new cases, meaning 7.3 percent of all new tests came back positive.
Allegheny County saw 246 new cases on Wednesday, which represented 8.5 percent of all test results.
Original source here.
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