COVID-19 In Pennsylvania: Pa. Restaurant And Lodging Association Calls For Reversal Of Indoor Dining Shutdown
By: KDKA-TV News Staff
HARRISBURG (KDKA) - The Pennsylvania Restaurant And Lodging Association is asking Gov. Tom Wolf to reverse his decision to temporarily shut down indoor dining, citing contact tracing data from another state.
Gov. Tom Wolf implemented restrictions last week aimed at slowing the spread of the virus. They'll last for three weeks and include a pause on indoor dining.
The association says New York's contact tracing data shows that restaurants account for 1.4% of COVID-19 cases from September to November.
According to Pennsylvania's contact tracing data for the week of Nov. 27 through Dec. 3, out of the 46,653 total cases reported, 4.5% answered contact tracers' questions about whether they spent time at a business establishment. About 0.5% answered yes, with 48% of those people saying they'd been to a restaurant.
The Pennsylvania Restaurant And Lodging Association says restaurants are being targeted when the virus is spreading in small, private gatherings.
When announcing the new mitigation efforts last week, Gov. Tom Wolf said the state wasn't targeting the restaurant industry, but rather "when we get together with other people for whatever reason, it's a real problem, and that's what the virus likes."
