What you need to know as Southwestern Pennsylvania enters yellow phase - TribLIVE

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Most of Southwestern Pennsylvania, including Allegheny and Westmoreland counties, will move from the red phase to the yellow phase of the state’s tiered reopening plan Friday.

Some restrictions put in place to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus will be eased or lifted.

Here’s what you need to know:

Do I still have to wear a mask?

Yes. The Pennsylvania Department of Health and local officials are still encouraging everyone to wear a mask when around other people in public, even in areas that are transitioning to the yellow phase.

“Masks help stop droplets that contain the coronavirus from spreading and infecting others,” Allegheny County Health Department Director Dr. Debra Bogen said during a press briefing Wednesday.

Masks must be worn when entering a business or shopping, visiting a health care provider, taking public transportation, or going through a drive-thru, Bogen said. Employees at businesses who interact with the public also must wear masks.

Masks do not need to be worn when you are outside walking, running, riding your bike or hiking, as long as you’re by yourself or with members of your household.

Carry a mask with you so you can put it on if you end up in a crowded area.

“We don’t want to have to devote energy to enforcing mask wearing,” Bogen said. “We hope everyone follows the directions. Let’s respect other people’s fears and concerns and wear our masks in public.”

Other measures, like keeping six feet apart from others, washing your hands and cleaning surfaces frequently, and staying home if you are showing possible covid-19 symptoms should also be followed.

What’s opening in the yellow phase?

“Continue teleworking or working from home if you have been,” Bogen said. “Just because we can return to offices, shops and work sites doesn’t mean we should. Staying home and physically distancing is still an effective way to limit the spread.”

Some businesses and services will be allowed to resume or expand operations in the yellow phase, with physical distancing measures in place. Those include:

• Retail: Stores will be allowed to reopen if they are able to follow strict physical distancing guidelines issued by the state, available here. This includes limiting the number of people in the store and utilizing curbside pickup. Additional support for businesses working to reopen is available at Ready Pittsburgh, a resource developed by the Allegheny Conference.

• Parks: County and city parks have remained open during the red phase, and local officials are encouraging people to continue to use them responsibly. Park programming and sporting events will not occur in the yellow phase. No decision has been made yet on opening pools.

• Child care: Child care centers will reopen with many restrictions, including temperature checks at the door.

• Liquor stores: 155 Fine Wine & Good Spirits stores in Western Pennsylvania will reopen Friday.

• Office jobs: Telework must continue where feasible, according to the governor’s reopening plan.

• Social gatherings: The yellow phase lifts the stay-at-home order, but large gatherings of more than 25 people are still prohibited. Officials are still encouraging everyone to follow physical distancing guidelines — including wearing masks — when interacting with anyone outside of your household.

What’s not opening yet?

Schools, gyms and indoor recreation centers, hair and nail salons, casinos and theaters will remain closed in the yellow phase.

Bars and restaurants are still limited to carry-out and delivery only.

When will Southwestern Pennsylvania move to the green phase?

It’s not yet clear how the state will decide when a region can move into the green phase, and what metrics will be used to determine whether a region is ready to transition.

The state has not yet set a timeline for moving any counties from yellow to green, Gov. Tom Wolf said Monday.

There is potential for the region to move from the yellow phase back to the red phase if cases spike again, Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald said during a press briefing Wednesday.

“We’re going to learn a lot over the next couple of weeks as to where these levels go,” Fitzgerald said. “If our levels spike up to a higher level, there may have to be some things that would have to be shut down again, and that would be very unfortunate because that’s not what we want to do.”

But if the number of new cases remains low, there could be opportunities to reopen more businesses, like hair salons and restaurants, he said.

Businesses could lose their licenses to operate if they violate reopening guidelines. Local officials, along with state police and several other state agencies, have the authority to enforce the guidelines.

“The enforcement is not going to be a police action in which you’re going to have people going into businesses, door-to-door, looking at what they do,” Fitzgerald said. “This really is something that community and social pressure and cooperation is going to have happen.”

Jamie Martines is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Jamie at 724-850-2867, jmartines@triblive.com or via Twitter .

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