The light at the end of the tunnel seems to be near for businesses across Pennsylvania! 

Due to the steady decline in COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and the positive test rate percentage, Governor Tom Wolf has announced plans to ease COVID-19 restrictions on bars, restaurants, gyms, theaters, and other businesses, which will go into effect on April 4, 2021.

Eased/changed restrictions include:

• Restaurants may resume bar service.
• Alcohol service without the purchase of food will be permitted, and there will no longer be a curfew for removing alcoholic drinks from tables.
• Restaurants who self-certify that they are meeting required COVID-19 safety regulations and standards will be allowed to increase their indoor capacity to 75%. Restaurants who do not self-certify may raise capacity to 50%
• Other businesses, such as gyms, entertainment venues, theaters, and malls, will be allowed to increase their indoor capacity to 75%.
• The revised maximum occupancy limits for indoor events will be raised to 25% of normal occupancy, and outdoor events will be raised to 50% of normal occupancy, regardless of venue size. The revised maximum occupancy limits will be permitted only if attendees and workers are able to comply with the 6-foot physical distancing requirement.

Governor Wolf expressed hope that Pennsylvania is headed in the right direction in regards to the pandemic. The number of reported COVID-19 cases continue to go down, hospitalizations are down, and the number of residents fully vaccinated increases daily. However, he also expressed caution that it is still important to comply with mask-wearing, social distancing, mitigation, and cleaning protocols.

As a law firm which represents many local businesses, this is exciting news for us – and we are happy to see the restrictions eased so businesses can start recovering from the impact of the past year. For more information on the restaurant self-certification program or the Governor’s plan to ease COVID business restrictions, go to https://www.governor.pa.gov/. 

If you have any questions, reach out to your legal counsel, or one of KingSpry’s business attorneys.

This news item is a publication of KingSpry. It is meant to be informational and does not constitute legal advice. It was edited by Paul S. Frank, chair of KingSpry’s Business Law Practice Group.