State Health Secretary Says Any Mass Business Reopening Would be a Mistake

By Center Square/Staff Reports

HARRISBURG – Pennsylvania’s top health official has again warned lawmakers against legislation that would reopen more of the state’s businesses during the coronavirus pandemic.

Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine, in a news conference Monday, said a widespread reopening of businesses at this time “would be a mistake…that would cost lives and lead to the overwhelming of our health care system.” She added, “To do any kind of a mass opening now would be a very big mistake.”

Levine has written a letter to the General Assembly discouraging passage of Senate Bill 613 because of an amendment that would conform the classification of essential businesses to the United States Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) advisory memorandum, rather than the more restrictive list used by Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration. She said Monday she has argued for more restrictive measures but said Wolf has taken a “measured approach.”

SB 613 is just one of several pending legislative attempts to reopen parts of the state’s economy after Wolf mandated that nonessential businesses close indefinitely on March 23 to slow the spread of COVID-19, which has sickened some 24,000 residents and killed more than 500 others.

Republicans in the House and Senate insist the governor lacks the authority to implement such an aggressive mitigation strategy and that his waiver process is riddled with inconsistencies. More than 42,000 businesses applied for an exemption through the Department of Community and Economic Development, and about 16 percent had been approved as of Tuesday.

“The many businesses deemed by the administration to be non-essential or not life-sustaining and the hundreds of thousands of people they employed, would find it neither reckless nor irresponsible to permit more of our small businesses to reopen with proper safety and sanitary protocols,” said Rep. Frank Ryan, R-Lebanon, in a response letter sent to Levine on Thursday. “Most would be happy to do whatever it takes.”

Wolf, for his part, has said repeatedly he will not reconsider. Democrats in both chambers have backed his approach as a necessary, life-saving step and admonished what they called an attempt by the majority party to usurp his authority.