Pennsylvania restaurants and bars see some COVID-19 restrictions lifted on Easter Sunday outside Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) – Beginning on Easter Sunday, more business and event capacity limits in Pennsylvania have been expanded and long-standing restrictions on coronavirus in bar service have been lifted – except in Philadelphia.

As of April 4, customers can once again go to the bar and get alcohol service without buying food in Pennsylvania.

The capacity of bars and restaurants has increased from 50% to 75% for self-certified establishments, although customers still need to be two meters away. Restaurants that do not self-certify can increase capacity to 50%.

Gyms, shopping malls and casinos will also be able to increase capacity to 75%.

“There will be light at the end of the tunnel if we continue to follow safety guidelines and get vaccinated,” Governor Tom Wolf tweeted on Sunday.

Outdoor locations will have 50% capacity. Internal events, such as concerts and sporting events, will be restricted to 25% of capacity.

SEE ALSO: Philadelphia will not adopt the relaxed restrictions of Pennsylvania’s COVID-19 on April 4, said the health commissioner

The list of changes was announced by Governor Wolf on March 15.

Days later, Philadelphia health commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley said that, due to the increase in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, the city will not follow the rest of the state in adopting relaxed restrictions on April 4.

“We believe that these changes, if we adopt them here in the city of Philadelphia, could further increase the rates of cases, hospitalizations and deaths,” said Farley.

Therefore, for restaurants in Philadelphia, if they meet ventilation standards, they can dine indoors at 50% capacity. If they don’t, they can dine indoors with 25% capacity.

Farley said that as of April 4, the city will allow the maximum capacity for outdoor buffet events to be expanded to 250, with some restrictions. The Department of Public Health strongly encourages people over 65 to be fully vaccinated before attending one of these events.

The city will also allow meals to be served in business rounds.

Throughout April, Farley said he will look at local trends in cases, hospitalizations and deaths to see if it is safe to loosen restrictions further and approach state guidelines. If this happens, the city will announce the changes before April 30, so that companies can plan to update the guide.

Meanwhile, the crowd grew at Citizens Bank Park on Sunday for the third game of the Philadelphia Phillies season.

The Phillies are playing “in front of the biggest crowd of the season so far,” said radio announcer Scott Franzke.

Franzke said that CBP was authorized to increase the occupancy limit from 20% to 25%.

This means that the maximum capacity is now 11,000.

“If you are familiar with the configuration of Citizens Bank Park, if you think of the Hall of Fame level, the 200 level, the 300 level, everything in the right corner of the field, both left and right of the pole, these sections have been emptied both first games, but they are loaded now, “said Franzke. “Obviously, socially distant seats.”

Phillies’ television announcer Tom McCarthy would also confirm the updated attendance later in the game.

Official attendance for Sunday’s game was 10,773.

The Phillies sent the following statement to Action News:
The Pennsylvania Community has increased the maximum occupancy limits for outdoor events to 50% from today. The city of Philadelphia did not correspond to the state level, but it allowed us to increase our maximum capacity from 20% to 25% (8,800 to 11,000).

The following is the list of changes in effect in Pennsylvania outside of Philadelphia:

RESTAURANTS:

-Restaurants can resume bar service;

– The alcohol service will be allowed without the purchase of food;

– The curfew will be lifted for the removal of alcoholic beverages from the tables;

– Indoor dining capacity will be increased to 75 percent for restaurants that are currently self-certified and those that are going through the self-certification process, which involves agreeing to strictly comply with all public health safety guidelines and orders, including cleaning protocols and mitigation and other operational requirements contained in the Governor and Secretary of Health’s mitigation and enforcement orders issued on November 23, 2020, as amended.

– Restaurants that do not self-certify can increase capacity to 50 percent.

– Outdoor dining, pick-up on the sidewalk and delivery for travel are still encouraged.

-Requirements such as wearing a mask and social distance, including 1.8 m between customers, also apply.

OTHER BUSINESS

– Capacity for other businesses will also be increased from April 4, including the change of personal services facilities, gyms and entertainment facilities (casinos, theaters, shopping malls) to 75% occupancy.

EVENTS:
– Maximum occupancy limits for internal events to allow 25% of the maximum occupancy, regardless of the size of the venue;

– Maximum occupancy limits for outdoor events to allow 50% of the maximum occupancy, regardless of the size of the venue.

-Maximum occupancy is allowed only if participants and workers are able to meet the 6-foot physical distance requirement.

“The inhabitants of Pennsylvania went to great lengths and did their part to help stop the spread of COVID-19,” said Governor Wolf in a statement. “Our case count continues to decline, hospitalizations are decreasing and the percentage positive rate is decreasing every week – all very positive signs. The number of people vaccinated increases daily and we are seeing light at the end of the tunnel. It is time to allow our restaurants, bars and other service companies to return to normal operations

Wolf also urged everyone to continue wearing masks, to stay socially aloof and to follow safety orders.

“We have come this far and now is not the time to stop the security measures we have in place to protect ourselves, our families and our communities,” said Governor Wolf. “Keep wearing a mask, social detachment, and please get vaccinated when it’s your turn.”

SEE ALSO: Pennsylvania set to loosen COVID-19 restrictions on April 4

The Associated Press contributed to this report