Wayne and Pike counties to stay closed, others slated to reopen

HARRISBURG, PA — In a press conference on Friday, May 8, Gov. Tom Wolf announced that 13 more counties are scheduled to shift from the commonwealth’s red phase to yellow phase of reopening on May 15. Wayne and Pike counties were not included on the list, which means the current restrictions will stay in place.

According to the Wayne County Coroner’s most recent data, eight people have died from COVID-19 in Wayne County, as of May 4. The coroner’s data represents the total number of people who died within the geographical county jurisdiction. The ages of the deceased range from 56 to 82 years old.

At the Wayne County Commissioners meeting on Thursday, May 7, commissioner Joe Adams echoed chairman Brian Smith’s wishes for Wayne County to move from the red to yellow phase, sooner rather than later.

He said that there were zero new positive cases reported three out of the last four days. He also noted that Wayne County is not an urban area, residents don’t do much commuting back-and-forth to New York or New Jersey, and that there aren’t many large employers in the county, all as justifications for reopening before some of the surrounding counties.

“We don’t have a plant of 1,000 workers in Wayne County,” he said. “80 percent of the employers in Wayne County have 10 or less employees, we feel that’s a really important factor.”

Regarding the county’s healthcare system, Adams said that Wayne Memorial Hospital has “tremendous capacity,” seeing a high of eight COVID-19 patients last week in a 200-bed hospital.

Support local journalism.

We are making all coverage of the coronavirus available for free. Please consider subscribing or donating so we can continue to bring you the latest news and information on this developing story. Visit www.riverreporter.com/subscribe

Interested in making a tax-deductible donation to fund local journalism? Visit www.givebutter.com/theriverreporter.