Governor adjusts event attendance limitations
KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL - A sparsely-filled grandstand at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Shenandoah for the Blue Devils' home opener against Tamaqua on Sept. 11, 2020.
SHENANDOAH – Die-hard football fans won’t have to crowd the fence on West Arlington Street in Shenandoah or find a hilltop vantage point in Mahanoy Township to catch a game come Friday, hopefully.
Governor Tom Wolf announced today new guidelines for events, tossing the previous 250-outdoor/25 indoor limits.
The new guidelines introduce a sliding scale to determine the restriction on a facility, based on its maximum occupancy.
For outdoor facilities holding up to 2,000 people, the limit is 25% of the total occupancy. For 2,001 to 10,000, the limit is 20% and for anything above, it is 15% up to a total of 7,500.
For indoor facilities, under 2,000 is 20%, between 2,001 and 10,000 is 15%, and anything over is 10% up to a total of 3,750.
“Pennsylvanians must continue to social distance and wear masks as we prepare to fight the virus through the fall and winter,” Wolf said in a media release. “Regardless of the size of an event or gathering, those things are still imperative to stopping the spread of COVID. We know everyone has sacrificed in many ways and today’s announcement reflects a gradual adjustment to our lives as we learn how we can do things safely until we have a cure, or an effective vaccine is widely available.”
“We will closely monitor cases and outbreaks and if our case investigation and contact tracing efforts determine that events or gatherings are the source of an outbreak, we can and will dial back these new limits,” Dr. Rachel Levine, health secretary, said. “Public health and safety are our first concern and will always remain as such.”
The new limits take effect this Friday, Oct. 9.
The limits have been a particular annoyance in the past few weeks for football fans and school districts, as schools have had to compile lists of who is set to attend a specific game and for what purpose as they tried to manage the 250-person limit for outdoor events.
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