PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — It had only been about a week since the first COVID-19 cases were detected in Pennsylvania.
Philadelphia and the four surrounding counties accounted for 43 of the 63 cases across the state — Montgomery County topped with 24, Delaware County second with seven.
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf ordered all nonessential businesses in the suburbs to close. But many, including gyms and malls, simply ignored the order and stayed opened.
Montgomery County Commissioner Dr. Val Arkoosh said she repeatedly asked the governor’s office for clarity on what businesses were supposed to close, but she hadn’t received an answer.
The other big question: Who was going to enforce it?
“If the governor issues an order, it is not the role of the Montgomery County Public Safety (Department) to enforce that order. That enforcement mechanism is at the state level,” she said.
Amid the closures, Arkoosh and other county leaders called for calmness, promising residents that pharmacies, grocery stores and gas stations would stay open.
Congress started discussing how to help people who had to close their businesses or who wouldn’t be able to work if they got exposed, and how to expand testing sites, as tests were only available for people with symptoms — and even then, those were hard to come by.
Nursing homes also shut down visitations.
Just this past week in 2021, Pennsylvania urged nursing homes to implement changes outlined in federal guidance that addressed visitation. It says, in part, nothing replaces physical contact, and if the resident is vaccinated, they can choose close contact, but masks and distancing from other residents and staff should continue.
COVID: Then and Now is a KYW Newsradio original monthlong series looking back at the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic in Philadelphia. Reporters revisit the news from exactly one year ago and examine how protocols, restrictions and science have evolved since then. Check back weekdays in March for more.