Gov. Wolf: No timeline on Pennsylvania counties transitioning from yellow to green phase

Southwestern Pennsylvania is poised to transition from the red to yellow phase of the state’s tiered reopening plan, leaving many residents and business owners wondering how long it will be before the region is allowed to go green.

Gov. Tom Wolf said Monday that has not yet been decided.

“We still have counties that are moving from red to yellow, and we have more counties to come in the future,” Wolf said during the press briefing. “We have not yet set a timeline even for those counties moving from red to yellow, let alone move from yellow to green.”

Two dozen counties in Northwest and North-Central Pennsylvania moved from the red phase to the yellow phase of coronavirus mitigation restrictions Friday. Most of Western Pennsylvania will be allowed to transition starting May 15, including Allegheny and Westmoreland counties. Beaver County was omitted from the list because of a coronavirus outbreak at the Brighton Rehabilitation and Wellness Center nursing home.

More details about the green phase and what that transition will look like will be released in the coming weeks, a state health department spokesperson said in a statement.

“At this time, we are focused on moving the state, and the regions of the state to the yellow phase,” the statement said.

Regions must report an average of fewer than 50 cases per 100,000 individuals over a 14-day period to qualify for moving from the red to yellow phase, according to the state’s plan.

State officials also are considering testing capacity and hospital capacity.

Wolf on Monday also threatened to pull funding and licenses from businesses and counties where lawmakers are encouraging residents to ignore restrictions.

He said state funding intended to help fight the pandemic will be used to support counties that are following the orders to prevent the spread of the virus.