Gov. Wolf's plan to reopen Lancaster County's economy too restrictive, local leaders say

Gov. Tom Wolf’s plan for reopening Pennsylvania’s economy may be more cautious and restrictive than is necessary for Lancaster County, top local elected leaders said at a news conference Tuesday.

U.S. Rep. Lloyd Smucker and two county commissioners made a plea for greater local control during the transition from the COVID-19 lockdown and criticized the Wolf administration for a lack of transparency and outreach to county-level officials.

“It’s not too early to reopen the economy,” Smucker said. “It truly is a travesty that there are many small businesses in our community that could safely resume some activity, but could be permanently shuttered as a result of the governor’s actions.”

“Pennsylvania wants to get back to work safely, and we can do just that,” he said in remarks echoed by county commissioners Josh Parsons and Ray D’Agostino. “Providing for the public health and the health of our local economy … are not mutually exclusive.”

Under Wolf’s plan, Lancaster County would be allowed to move to partial reopening of some businesses once new cases average 19 a day for two weeks. Currently, the two-week average is about 58 new cases a day.

It’s been exactly a month since new cases were below 19 a day.

“I don’t see how that is attainable for us any time soon,” Parsons told reporters gathered outside the Lancaster County Public Safety Training Center near Salunga.

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‘This has to be decentralized’

Basing decisions about reopening on the number of new cases, he said, may result in people deciding it’s not in their economic interest to get tested for the new coronavirus, which, according to the county coroner, has killed at least 162 people in Lancaster County.

“We want people to get tested,” Parsons said. “We agree with ramped up testing.”

Parsons argued that other metrics are more reasonable for making decisions about when to end the governor’s shutdown order. He recommended tracking the number of COVID-19 patients being treated at local hospitals.

“The health issues are real,” Parsons said. “The economic crisis is real, too”

Parsons called for a “middle course, where we can protect the vulnerable, measure the key metrics for this community and begin to open up the economy in a safe and prudent way.”

“I also believe this has to be decentralized,” he said. “I think it’s hard to run from Harrisburg.

“There’s not going to be a perfect solution, but we can’t wait for months and months to open up our economy either,” Parsons said.

Meanwhile, 162 people have died of COVID-19 in Lancaster County, according to the county’s coroner, Dr. Stephen Diamantoni, with a majority being residents of nursing homes or senior care facilities.

That ranks Lancaster, on a per capita basis, fourth among Pennsylvania’s 67 counties, with 29.7 deaths per 100,000 people, according to LNP | LancasterOnline's analysis.

Only Beaver County (36.0 deaths per 100,000) in the western part of the state, Lackawanna County (33.9) in the northeast, and Montgomery County (30.0) in the Philadelphia suburbs have higher rates of loss.

Wolf responds to criticism

In response to the criticism, Lyndsay Kensinger, the governor’s press secretary, said the state’s reopening plan includes the flexibility to reopen by region or by county.

“The administration discussed the proposed reopening plan with state and local government representatives prior to the announcement, and just as the administration worked with local officials on the implementation of the state’s mitigation tactics and closures, a similar process will be implemented with reopening as outlined in the plan announced last week,” Kensinger said in an email to LNP | LancasterOnline.

Kensinger added that the governor’s office and the state Department of Health have maintained consistent contact with Lancaster County officials and will continue to do so.

Smucker said he doesn’t fault the governor’s decisions at the beginning of the crisis.

“But what we’re seeing now is a lack of collaboration, a lack of transparency and, unfortunately, a lack of information,” he said.