Empty streets in downtown Hummelstown, Pa., are seen on April 1, 2020.
Tim Lambert / WITF
When the state stopped: Looking back at 2 months of coronavirus news
Plus: Questions about the 'return to normal'
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Russ Walker
Tim Lambert / WITF
Empty streets in downtown Hummelstown, Pa., are seen on April 1, 2020.
Join WITF for a virtual preview screening of the new documentary, Viral: Antisemitism in Four Mutations on Wednesday, May 20 at 7 p.m. After the screening, WITF Senior Adviser Mike Greenwald will moderate a discussion with the film’s Producer and Editor (and Pennsylvania native) Diana Robinson. Details on this virtual event are online here. —Russ Walker, PA Post editor
Tim Lambert / WITF
Empty streets in downtown Hummelstown, Pa., are seen on April 1, 2020. (Tim Lamber / WITF)
The past two months have been unprecedented in Pennsylvania.
After the coronavirus arrived in our state…
Schools were closed…
Businesses were shut down…
And people were ordered to stay home.
It all happened rapidly once COVID-19 made its first appearance in eastern Pennsylvania on March 6.
WITF News Director Tim Lambert spent most of the past two weeks producing a one-hour radio documentary looking back on the past two-and-a-half months. The piece aired for the first time on Friday morning, and you can listen to the whole thing here.
What is striking about the documentary is its reminder of how much has happened. Things that I forgot until listening include:
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On March 12, Gov. Tom Wolf moved to close schools and businesses in Montgomery County, where more than half of the state’s 22 coronavirus cases had been detected. A day later, the governor ordered all schools in the state to close for two weeks.
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The state recorded its first COVID-19 death on March 19, a Northampton County man who we’d later learn was part of an extended New Jersey family that experienced multiple deaths from the virus.
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On March 24, a total of 10 counties in the state were under stay-at-home orders. A week later, the entire state was on lockdown.
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April 3 was the day all Pennsylvanians were urged to begin wearing a face mask anytime they were in public.
Pennsylvania is starting to reopen. More counties will see coronavirus restrictions eased this coming Friday.
The numbers look good, too. Over the past seven days, the number of newly positive coronavirus cases never rose above 1,000. Deaths appear to be declining too, with just 15 new deaths announced on Sunday.
Some of the spikes in the number of deaths over the past few weeks are tied to data reconciliation efforts to bring the state’s count in line with the counties’. The peak in deaths and new cases may have passed two weeks ago or more.
This is good news for everyone. But public health leaders continue to remind Americans that the virus isn’t gone. It could resurge in the fall or winter, or even in a few weeks if social-distancing measures are cast aside too quickly. And public officials are urged to plan now so we’re better prepared for a second wave.
Questions for a new week
Matt Rourke / AP Photo
A person wearing a protective face mask as a precaution against the coronavirus walks by a closed storefront in Lebanon, Pa., Tuesday, May 12, 2020. (Matt Rourke / AP Photo)
After a gorgeous Friday and Saturday in south-central Pennsylvania, I’m left with these questions:
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Can people withstand the urge to socialize again? Based on my little patch of Lancaster, the answer is a resounding NO! As my wife and I went to bed last night, two separate parties were raging in the neighborhood — backyard gatherings with lots of drinking and singing and bear hugs.
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Will the rush to gather in groups, with or without a county going yellow or green, backfire with a new wave of cases in a few weeks?
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Or will the virus wane in the summer, leaving us all doubting that the shutdown we endured this spring was actually necessary? Will it undermine public support for tough measures in the fall or winter if the virus returns?
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When we venture out in search of normalcy, what will we find? Will our favorite bar be closed for good? Will main street be boarded up? Or will the economy roar back to life?
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Finally, what of our politics? Will anger at what the virus has wrought be fuel for the partisanship that has ripped the body politic apart for much of the past four years? It sure seems like we know the answer to this already.
If you have thoughts, please share them in our Listening Post, or drop me an email at rwalker@papost.org.
A few links for your Monday morning:
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New York Times: As States Reopen, Governors Balance Existing Risks With New Ones
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Philadelphia Inquirer: Should insurance companies pay for coronavirus shutdown losses? Philly businesses are taking them to court
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Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Called back to work? Here’s what to expect from the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry
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Reading Eagle: Coronavirus crisis expected to increase need for foster families
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LNP: Lancaster County had its first day without a COVID-19 related death in over a month
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Wall Street Journal: Coronavirus Vaccine Front-Runners Emerge, Rollouts Weighed (subscription)
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The Washington Post: As coronavirus testing expands, a new problem arises: Not enough people to test
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The Atlantic: State and Federal Data on COVID-19 Testing Don’t Match Up
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USA Today: Where coronavirus isn’t: What’s kept cases officially at zero in these 200 counties?
