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UPDATED: May 7, 8 a.m.
Wolf says the Commonwealth Civilian Coronavirus Corps will be essential to reopening the state’s economy as safely as possible.
"I am proposing the Commonwealth Civilian Coronavirus Corps, a new program that will expand our ability to conduct contact tracing and testing, and mobilize Pennsylvanians to do all sorts of things to contain the COVID-19 virus,” he explained.
Wolf said the state will work with public health agencies, community groups and nonprofits, and their work will not replace what doctors and nurses are doing.
“We have bought precious time,” Wolf said. “We need to now use that time effectively by building a program that will allow our commonwealth to function as much as possible while we wait for a vaccine.”
The governor said he is not yet sure how many people will be needed, when the state might start hiring them or how the initiative would be funded. He says he’ll release more details in the coming days.
He didn’t say how much this program would cost but said he is pushing for the feds to pay for it.
The state now has over 51,000 positive coronavirus cases, with over 3,100 fatalities.
LCB chairman defends decision to close state stores
Members of the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board Wednesday defended the decision to close state stores when coronavirus began spreading through the state during a state Senate hearing.
“And the inability to pivot and change in something like a pandemic,” she added.
But LCB chairman Tim Holden believes the agency has done a “great job” adapting to the crisis
“Our ecommerce store or curbside (service) — which we had zero experience with before — were never designed to take on the demand for the entire Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” Holden said.
Some Democratic members of the committee, meanwhile, argued that holding the hearing at this time was a distraction.
While food is essential, said one, “we can’t say the same about Jack Daniels and SKYY vodka.”
Montgomery County
Montgomery County has more than 4,700 total positive cases of coronavirus since the first cases surfaced in early March. And with 26 more deaths announced Wednesday, the county has had 379 deaths after positive COVID-19 tests.
Montgomery County Commissioner Val Arkoosh said the 26 announced deaths date back to mid-April, so while the number is large, it’s not a one-day total.
Also, 82% of the county’s deaths after a positive test are from long-term care facilities.
Arkoosh said she had a chance to sit down with the county team that’s going out to those facilities.
“The team wanted me to convey to all of you how sad so many of the workers are at these long-term care facilities as they have lost individuals that they have cared for in many cases for years,” she said.
Arkoosh said those workers say they did all they could to keep this virus out, but as Arkoosh puts it, this virus is treacherous and contagious.
She said they still believe those numbers are starting to come down, which she credits to social distancing.
She’s asking people to continue to follow those measures, and as the county inches closer toward reopening, she’s asking residents to think now about what they can do to be as safe as possible when restrictions are lifted.
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