As of 3/27, Governor Tom Wolf has added York County to his Stay At Home order. Check out the 6-section guide below.
- THINGS WE KNOW:
The Coronavirus is highly transmittable, so in order to stop the transmission of the virus, individuals must have little to no contact with others. York County has now been added to the list of 19 Counties with a Stay At Home Order. The order gives the government the opportunity to maintain public health in our County as well as slow the progression and transmission of the virus to alleviate health care facility overload. You may have heard this referred to as “Flattening the Curve”.
- WHAT DOES THIS ORDER MEAN?
Simply put, all individuals and counties subject to this order must STAY AT HOME except for certain essential activities and work to provide life-sustaining business and government services. The Stay at Home Order will go into effect at 8pm on 3/27. Here’s a brief overview:
- Life Sustaining Businesses remains in effect – To review updates to this order, CLICK HERE.For an updated version of the FAQ’s on the Life Sustaining Business Order, CLICK HERE.
- You can continue to purchase groceries, obtain medicine and medical assistance, and be outside while practicing social distancing. Details in Section 4 below.
- Local travel is permitted currently. See Section 3 for Employer/Employee information and Section 4 for all other travel.
- Special exemptions from this order include those experiencing homelessness, displaced students or institutions like healthcare and law enforcement.
A full list of activities and exemptions can be found below in Section 4 of this article.
- HOW DOES THIS DIFFER FROM WHAT YOU’RE ALREADY DOING?
Already, the City of York declared a state of emergency and the County of York issued a Declaration of Disaster Emergency. York County Residents have been strongly encouraged to remain home, other than to get essential needs, to work at life-sustaining businesses, to purchase groceries, to obtain medicine or other medical assistance, to take care of others, etc. The difference between what we’ve already been asked to practice and the new Stay At Home Order is enforcement around these activities. Access full enforcement information HERE. If law enforcement were to come into contact with a potentially comprising situation, they have the ability to give warning or fines to those in violation of the order.
For Employers:
Employers with employees commuting to and from a business deemed life-sustaining or with a waiver can provide their employees with a letter on company letterhead stating what category of life-sustaining operation they fit into, contact information of a key contact person at the company, and signed by HR or C-level.
This is not currently required and local enforcement is aware of/utilizing the list as they do enforcement, but this is a current “best-practice” for employers who are deemed life-sustaining or have a waiver and would like to provide their employees with some kind of documentation.
- MORE EXTENSIVE ORDER DETAILS:
ALLOWABLE ACTIVITIES:
- Tasks essential to maintain health and safety, or the health and safety of their family or household members (including, but not limited to, pets), such as obtaining medicine or medical supplies, visiting a health care professional, or obtaining supplies they need to work from home.
- Getting necessary services or supplies for themselves or their family or household members, or to deliver those services or supplies to others, such as getting food and household consumer products, pet food, and supplies necessary to maintain the safety, sanitation, and essential operation of residences. This includes volunteer efforts to distribute meals and other life-sustaining services to those in need.
- Engaging in outdoor activity, such as walking, hiking or running if they maintain social distancing.
- To perform work that is providing essential products and services at a life-sustaining business(see below for details about life-sustaining business activities).
- To care for a family member or pet in another household.
ALLOWABLE ESSENTIAL LOCAL TRAVEL:
- Any travel related to the provision of or access to the above-mentioned individual activities or life sustaining business activities(see below for details about life-sustaining business activities).
- Travel to care for elderly, minors, dependents, persons with disabilities, or other vulnerable persons.
- Travel to or from educational institutions for purposes of receiving materialsfor distance learning, for receiving meals, and any other related services.
- Travel to return to a place of residence from an outside jurisdiction.
- Travel required by law enforcement or court order.
- Travel required for non-residents to return to their place of residence outside the commonwealth
Further Details on Stay at Home Guidance
- EXEMPTIONS & OTHER EFFECTED COMMUNITIES
LIFE SUSTAINING BUSINESS ACTIVITIES
Life Sustaining Businesses remains in effect – To review updates to this order, CLICK HERE. For an updated version of the FAQ’s on the Life Sustaining Business Order, CLICK HERE.
INDIVIDUALS EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS
Individuals experiencing homelessness are not subject to this order but are strongly urged to find shelter and government agencies are urged to take steps needed to provide shelter for those individuals.
DISPLACED STUDENTS
International students, foster youth, and any other students who would otherwise experience displacement or homelessness as a result of campus closures are exempt from this order and may remain in campus housing.
OTHER INSTITUTIONS NOT EFFECTED BY THE ORDER:
Additionally, nothing in this order shall be construed to affect the operations of:
- Health care or medical service providers.
- Access to life-sustaining services for low-income residents, including, but not limited to, food banks.
- Access to child care services for employees of life-sustaining businesses that remain open as follows: child care facilities operating under the Department of Human Services, Office of Child Development and Early Learning waiver process; group and family child care operating in a residence; and part-day school age programs operating under an exemption from the March 19, 2020 business closure Orders.
- The news media.
- Law enforcement.
- The federal government.
- Religious institutions.
- OTHER RESOURCES:
- For the most up-to-date, reliable information, please continue to refer to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s website for Responding to COVID-19 in Pennsylvania: https://www.pa.gov/guides/responding-to-covid-19/