The Record
The States
Pennsylvania

The States

Pennsylvania

Name: Pennsylvania: governmental orders, March 2020 through September 2021
Creator: The COVID Project

The Pennsylvania file holds 116 instruments from the State's governor, health authorities, courts and agencies, 104 of them with the exhibit file held by The COVID Project. 368 records in the Library resolve to Pennsylvania in all, counting its metros, the agency clusters and the standing duties.

Code PAFirst closure or stay-at-home order Mar. 16, 2020 Ex. PA-082End of general restrictions May 31, 2021Orders reaching 2021 Q3 22Primary source read 100 Confirmed from a secondary source 16

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The record in brief

Pennsylvania's regime ran in four tiers, every one of them an order from an appropriate governmental authority limiting commerce, travel or group meetings. First, the spring 2020 closure and confinement tier. Governor Wolf proclaimed a disaster emergency on March 6, 2020 (PA-001); on March 13 he closed every K-12 school (PA-119, PA-081); on March 15-16 he closed dine-in service in the four southeastern counties and then statewide, closed every licensed child care center from March 17 and 'strongly urged' non-essential businesses to close (PA-082, PA-081); PennDOT closed every driver license and photo license center at the close of business March 16 (PA-102); the Supreme Court declared a statewide judicial emergency March 16 and closed every court to the public from March 19 (PA-084, PA-085). On March 19, 2020 the Governor and the Secretary of Health ordered that 'No person or entity shall operate a place of business in the Commonwealth that is not a life sustaining business regardless of whether the business is open to members of the public' (PA-002, PA-003), incorporating a NAICS-coded list that closed construction, most manufacturing, dealers, non-food retail, personal care, drinking places, lodging, law, accounting, engineering, advertising, staffing, schools and child care, and that stamped 'Elective procedures prohibited' on physicians, dentists, outpatient centers and hospitals (PA-004, PA-069); enforcement began 8:00 a.m. March 23 (PA-050). Stay-at-home orders followed for seven counties on March 23 (PA-005), twenty-six by March 30 (PA-051) and the whole Commonwealth at 8:00 p.m. April 1, 2020 (PA-006), extended to May 8 (PA-009) and to June 4 for the red counties (PA-057). The Secretary layered building-safety (PA-007) and worker-safety orders (PA-008: temperature screening, mandatory masks, virtual meetings, visitor bans, 50 percent occupancy for any business serving the public) on every business allowed to open; the Governor commandeered PPE inventories and required every manufacturer, distributor and supplier of medical resources to report them (PA-052); the Supreme Court stayed every eviction, ejectment and execution on possession through April 30 and then May 11 (PA-087, PA-088), after which the Governor's orders stayed foreclosure and eviction notices to July 10 and then August 31, 2020 (PA-056, PA-060, PA-063). Real estate stayed closed to in-person operations until May 19, 2020 (PA-058, PA-059); dealers could not sell even online until April 20 (PA-053); construction restarted May 1 under mandatory guidance (PA-054, PA-111). Second, the phased reopening. The Yellow Phase Order of May 7 (PA-010) lifted stay-at-home county by county from May 8 while keeping telework mandatory where possible, gatherings at 25, and gyms, salons, casinos, theaters and indoor dining closed; the Philadelphia region left red only on June 5 (PA-013). The Green Phase Order of May 27 (PA-011) set 75 percent occupancy for businesses, 50 percent for restaurants, appointment-only personal care, a 250-person event cap and 'Teleworking remains strongly encouraged'; the southeast turned green June 26 (PA-014) and the last county July 3, 2020 (PA-062). Twelve days later the July 15 Targeted Mitigation Orders (PA-016, PA-017) re-tightened the whole Commonwealth: indoor dining 25 percent, bar service prohibited, alcohol only with a meal, nightclubs closed, indoor gatherings over 25 and outdoor over 250 prohibited, and 'Unless not possible, all businesses are required to conduct their operations in whole or in part remotely through individual teleworking of their employees.' The Secretary's July 1 universal face-covering order (PA-015) bound every workplace and every customer. September 17 brought the 11:00 p.m. alcohol cutoff and the 50 percent self-certification for restaurants from September 21 (PA-065, PA-066); October 6 replaced the fixed caps with an occupancy calculator of 10 to 25 percent (PA-019, PA-067). Third, the winter 2020-21 re-tightening. On November 17 the Secretary issued the Updated Face Coverings Order ('every individual, age two and older... shall wear a face covering when... Indoors or in an enclosed space... irrespective of physical distance'; every business 'must... Require... and take reasonable steps to enforce') (PA-020) and the Travel Mitigation Order requiring a negative test within 72 hours or a 14-day quarantine for every person entering the Commonwealth (PA-021, PA-070, PA-027, PA-113). On November 23 the Mitigation and Enforcement Orders (PA-022, PA-023), effective November 27, made telework mandatory 'Unless impossible,' required screening, masks, virtual meetings and visitor bans, excluded exposed and positive employees from in-person work, capped retail at 75 percent, entertainment, gyms and personal care at 50 percent, indoor dining at 25 percent (50 with self-certification) with alcohol only with meals and no bar service, and events at 10 percent indoors and 15 percent outdoors; the same day the Secretary ordered hospitals to cut elective procedures by half on notice (PA-025), ordered every school in a high-transmission county to attest or go remote (PA-071, PA-073), suspended on-site alcohol sales on Thanksgiving Eve (PA-072) and issued a stay-at-home advisory to January 4 (PA-024). The Limited-Time Targeted Mitigation Orders of December 10 (PA-028, PA-079) prohibited all indoor dining, closed gyms, theaters, casinos, museums, bowling alleys and arcades, capped indoor gatherings at 10 and outdoor at 50, cut every public-facing business to 50 percent and suspended all school and youth sports from December 12, 2020 to 8:00 a.m. January 4, 2021. Fourth, the 2021 unwinding. The Nov. 23 orders were loosened March 1 (gatherings 15/20 percent) (PA-031), April 4 (telework downgraded to 'strongly encouraged,' retail, gyms and personal care 75 percent, bar service restored, events 25/50 percent) (PA-033) and May 17 (events 50/75 percent) (PA-036), and expired at 12:01 a.m. May 31, 2021 (PA-035, PA-036); the travel order ended March 1 (PA-032); the disaster emergency was terminated by the General Assembly on June 10, 2021 under the constitutional amendments of May 18, 2021 (PA-039); the universal face-covering order was terminated at 12:01 a.m. June 28, 2021 (PA-100, PA-106). What did not end on June 30, 2021 is the point of the third-quarter inventory: Act 21 of 2021 (PA-040), a statute, carried every COVID-19 regulatory suspension to September 30, 2021, and Act 73 (PA-043) then carried the health, human-services and licensing-board suspensions to March 31, 2022 with a legislative finding that they were 'in effect on September 30, 2021'; the Secretary's elective-procedure order bound every acute care hospital until August 23, 2021 (PA-025, PA-101); the hospital daily-reporting and nursing-facility weekly-reporting orders ran through the quarter (PA-041, PA-044, PA-038); the Department's infection-control and work-exclusion directives to every health care setting ran through the quarter (PA-046, PA-047, PA-048, PA-118); the vaccine-provider order remained in force 'until further notice' (PA-029, PA-034); and on August 31 the Acting Secretary ordered every school and every licensed child care provider in the Commonwealth to mask every person indoors from September 7, 2021, an order enforced through the end of the quarter and beyond (PA-042, PA-045). The Commonwealth never preempted local orders: Philadelphia and Allegheny County issued stricter ones throughout, and the December 10 order expressly preserved local rules 'no less strict' (PA-028 § 12).

The six quarters

What the record shows in force in Pennsylvania on the first day and the last day of each quarter. Every exhibit named here opens its record. The orders of March 13 to 31, 2020 belong to the second quarter of 2020, because wages paid after March 12, 2020 fall in that quarter.

Quarter	First day	Last day
2020 Q2Second quarter of 2020The quarter nationally →	Apr. 1, 2020: statewide closure of all non-life-sustaining businesses (PA-002, PA-003, PA-004; enforced from Mar. 23, PA-050); dine-in prohibited statewide (PA-002 § 2); stay-at-home in 33 counties, statewide from 8:00 p.m. Apr. 1 (PA-006); all K-12 schools closed (PA-119, PA-074); licensed child care closed except by waiver (PA-081, PA-083, PA-005); courts closed to the public, jury trials suspended, evictions stayed (PA-085, PA-087); PennDOT centers closed (PA-102); elective procedures prohibited (PA-069); disaster emergency (PA-001).	June 30, 2020: all 67 counties in yellow or green (the last twelve, including Philadelphia, green from June 26, PA-014; Lebanon yellow until July 3, PA-062); Green Phase Order in force: 75 percent business occupancy, 50 percent restaurants, appointment-only personal care, gatherings over 250 prohibited, telework strongly encouraged (PA-011); Worker Safety and Building Safety Orders binding every open business (PA-008, PA-007); eviction and foreclosure notice stay in force to July 10 (PA-056, PA-060); statewide judicial emergency ended June 1 with local emergencies continuing (PA-089); disaster emergency renewed June 3 (PA-012); mixed drinks to go authorized for licensees that lost more than 25 percent of sales (PA-075, PA-105).
2020 Q3Third quarter of 2020The quarter nationally →	July 1, 2020: Green Phase Order statewide except Lebanon (PA-011, PA-062); universal face-covering order effective July 1 (PA-015); Worker Safety and Building Safety Orders (PA-008, PA-007); eviction/foreclosure notice stay to July 10, extended July 9 to Aug. 31 (PA-056, PA-063); remote agency proceedings from July 10 (PA-064).	Sept. 30, 2020: Targeted Mitigation Orders of July 15 as amended Sept. 17 (PA-016, PA-017, PA-065, PA-066): indoor dining 25 percent (50 percent self-certified from Sept. 21), alcohol only with meals, bar service prohibited, 11:00 p.m. alcohol cutoff, nightclubs closed, indoor gatherings over 25 and outdoor over 250 prohibited (fixed caps held unconstitutional by the W.D. Pa. on Sept. 14 but the judgment stayed by the Third Circuit Oct. 1; PA-090, PA-120), telework required 'Unless not possible'; universal face coverings (PA-015); Worker Safety and Building Safety Orders; disaster emergency renewed Aug. 31 (PA-018); eviction/foreclosure stay ended Aug. 31 (PA-063).
2020 Q4Fourth quarter of 2020The quarter nationally →	Oct. 1, 2020: as Sept. 30, 2020; the Oct. 6 amendments replaced the fixed caps with the occupancy calculator (10-25 percent) from Oct. 9 (PA-019, PA-067).	Dec. 31, 2020: Limited-Time Targeted Mitigation Orders (Dec. 12 - Jan. 4): all indoor dining prohibited, gyms, theaters, casinos, museums, bowling alleys, arcades closed, indoor gatherings over 10 and outdoor over 50 prohibited, all public-facing businesses 50 percent, school and youth sports suspended (PA-028, PA-079); beneath them the Nov. 23 Mitigation and Enforcement Orders (telework 'Unless impossible', screening, masks, visitor bans, quarantine exclusions) (PA-022, PA-023, PA-077, PA-078, PA-080); Updated Face Coverings Order (PA-020); Travel Mitigation Order (test or quarantine) (PA-021, PA-070, PA-027, PA-113); elective-procedure reduction order (PA-025); school attestation orders (PA-071, PA-073); stay-at-home advisory (PA-024); disaster emergency renewed Nov. 24 (PA-026).
2021 Q1First quarter of 2021The quarter nationally →	Jan. 1, 2021: Limited-Time orders in force to 8:00 a.m. Jan. 4 (PA-028, PA-079); Nov. 23 orders (PA-022, PA-023); face coverings (PA-020); travel order (PA-021, PA-113); elective-procedure order (PA-025); school attestation (PA-071); hospital daily reporting (PA-044 from Jan. 27); disaster emergency (PA-026).	Mar. 31, 2021: Nov. 23 orders as amended Mar. 1 (telework 'Unless impossible' still mandatory; indoor dining 25/50 percent; alcohol only with meals; 11:00 p.m. cutoff; retail 75 percent; gyms and personal care 50 percent; events 15/20 percent; quarantine exclusions per PA-HAN-559) (PA-022, PA-031, PA-049); face coverings as amended Mar. 17 for vaccinated persons (PA-020, PA-114); travel order terminated Mar. 1 (PA-032); vaccine-provider order (PA-029); elective-procedure order (PA-025); school attestation (PA-071); disaster emergency renewed Feb. 19 (PA-030).
2021 Q2Second quarter of 2021The quarter nationally →	Apr. 1, 2021: as Mar. 31, 2021; the Apr. 1 amendments effective Apr. 4 ended the telework mandate and raised capacities (PA-033).	June 30, 2021: general mitigation orders expired 12:01 a.m. May 31 (PA-035, PA-036); universal face-covering order terminated 12:01 a.m. June 28 (PA-100, PA-106); disaster emergency terminated June 10 (PA-039); IN FORCE on June 30: Act 21 of 2021's extension of every regulatory suspension to Sept. 30, 2021 (PA-040); elective-procedure reduction order (PA-025, to Aug. 23); hospital daily reporting (PA-044); nursing-facility weekly reporting (PA-038); vaccine-provider order (PA-034); PA-HAN-563 infection control and PA-HAN-569 work restrictions (PA-046, PA-118); Department of State licensing suspensions (PA-091 to PA-098); Governor's § 14 immunity provision to June 28 (PA-035).
2021 Q3Third quarter of 2021The quarter nationally →	July 1, 2021: IN FORCE: Act 21 of 2021 suspensions (PA-040); elective-procedure reduction order (PA-025); hospital daily-reporting order (PA-044); nursing-facility weekly-reporting order (PA-038); vaccine-provider order (PA-029, PA-034); PA-HAN-563 and PA-HAN-569 (PA-046, PA-118); Department of State waivers (PA-091 to PA-098); federal layer; Philadelphia and Allegheny local instruments. NOT IN FORCE: disaster emergency, mitigation and telework orders, universal mask order, any stay-at-home order or advisory, travel order, school attestation order, eviction/foreclosure stay, statewide judicial emergency.	Sept. 30, 2021: IN FORCE: Act 73 of 2021 (enacted that day) extending the health, human-services and licensing-board suspensions 'in effect on September 30, 2021' to Mar. 31, 2022 (PA-043); school and child-care face-covering order from Sept. 7 (PA-042); hospital daily-reporting order as amended Aug. 18 (PA-041); nursing-facility weekly reporting (PA-038); vaccine-provider order (PA-034); PA-HAN-597 (from Sept. 21) and PA-HAN-596 (from Sept. 16) (PA-048, PA-047); Commonwealth-employee vaccinate-or-test policy from Sept. 7 (PA-108); UC work-search requirement reinstated July 18 (PA-107); out-of-State practitioner licensing waivers to Sept. 30 (PA-091 notes). ENDED WITHIN THE QUARTER: elective-procedure reduction order (Aug. 23, PA-101); Department of State waiver tranches (Aug. 17, Aug. 31, Sept. 15); the Third Circuit vacated Butler as moot Aug. 11 (PA-104).

The end of general restrictions

The day the general business restrictions ended in Pennsylvania, the instrument that ended them, and what the record shows still in force afterward. The end of the general orders is not the end of the record: sector rules, standing duties and the federal layer continue past it.

End of general restrictions

May 31, 2021

2021-05-31 (capacity, gathering, telework, workplace and alcohol rules); 2021-06-10 (disaster emergency); 2021-06-28 (universal face coverings)

Instrument Amendments of May 13, 2021 to the Nov. 23, 2020 Orders for Mitigation and Enforcement (Acting Secretary, PA-036) and for Mitigation, Enforcement, and Immunity Protections (Governor, PA-035), effective May 17, 2021, providing that the orders 'shall remain in effect until 12:01 a.m. on May 31, 2021'; the Updated Order Requiring Universal Face Coverings was then terminated by the Acting Secretary effective 12:01 a.m. June 28, 2021 (PA-100); the disaster emergency itself was terminated by H.R. 106 on June 10, 2021 (PA-039)

What remained in force

Act 21 of 2021's extension of every COVID-19 regulatory suspension to Sept. 30, 2021 (PA-040) and Act 73's further extension of the Department of Health, Department of Human Services and licensing-board suspensions to Mar. 31, 2022 (PA-043); the Secretary of Health's disease-control orders resting on the Disease Prevention and Control Law rather than the emergency: the elective-procedures reduction order to Aug. 23, 2021 (PA-025, PA-101), the hospital daily-reporting order as amended Aug. 13, 2021 (PA-041, PA-044), the nursing-facility weekly-reporting order (PA-038), the vaccine-provider order (PA-029, PA-034), and the Health Alert Network directives on infection control and work exclusion in every health care setting (PA-046, PA-047, PA-048, PA-118); the school and child-care face-covering order from Sept. 7, 2021 (PA-042); the Commonwealth-employee vaccinate-or-test policy from Sept. 7, 2021 (PA-108); Department of State licensing waivers expiring in tranches Aug. 17, Aug. 31, Sept. 15 and Sept. 30, 2021 (PA-091 to PA-098 notes); the UC work-search reinstatement of July 18, 2021 (PA-107); local orders of Philadelphia and Allegheny County; and the federal layer.

Preemption of local orders

Pennsylvania did not preempt or bar local COVID-19 orders at any time in 2020-2021. Philadelphia (a first-class city with its own Board of Health and Health Code) and Allegheny County (a county health department under the Local Health Administration Law) issued their own stricter orders throughout the period, and the Commonwealth's instruments accommodated them: the Green Phase amendment of June 25, 2020 (PA-014) moved Philadelphia to green while the City kept its own restrictions to July 3; the Dec. 10, 2020 Limited-Time Targeted Mitigation Order provides in Section 12 ('Authority of Local Departments and Boards of Health') that 'Local governments and authorities may issue rules or orders relating to disease prevention and control, which do not conflict with and are no less strict than the provisions of this Order' (PA-028); the Nov. 23, 2020 orders defer to 'the Department or the local health department' for quarantine and isolation directions (PA-022 § 1(B)(iv)). The only curtailment of emergency power was of the Governor's: the constitutional amendments adopted May 18, 2021 (Pa. Const. art. III, § 9; art. IV, § 20(c)) limited a disaster emergency to 21 days without General Assembly extension and allowed termination by concurrent resolution, which the General Assembly exercised on June 10, 2021 (PA-039); the Secretary of Health's independent disease-control authority (35 P.S. § 521.5; 71 P.S. § 532(a)) was untouched, which is why the mask order outlived the emergency and the school mask order issued in August 2021 (until the courts held in Nov.-Dec. 2021 that it required rulemaking, PA-045). Counties without health departments (all but Philadelphia, Allegheny, Bucks, Chester, Montgomery, Erie and a few others) had no independent order-making power and operated under the Commonwealth's orders alone.

Third quarter of 2021

July 1 through September 30, 2021, the last claimable quarter: the instruments the record shows in force in Pennsylvania. An order in force on any day of the quarter is an order in force during it. The quarter nationally →

In force (15)

PA-040 Act 21 of 2021 (regulatory suspensions extended to Sept. 30, 2021; whole quarter)
PA-043 Act 73 of 2021 (Sept. 30, 2021; suspensions 'in effect on September 30, 2021' extended to Mar. 31, 2022)
PA-042 School and child-care face-covering order (Sept. 7-30, 2021)
PA-025 with PA-101 Elective-procedure reduction order (July 1 - Aug. 23, 2021)
PA-041 and PA-044 Hospital daily-reporting order (whole quarter; amended effective Aug. 18, 2021)
PA-038 Nursing-facility weekly-reporting order (whole quarter)
PA-029 and PA-034 Vaccine-provider order (in force 'until further notice'; no termination located)
PA-046 PA-HAN-563 (July 1 - Sept. 20) and PA-048 PA-HAN-597 (Sept. 21-30): infection prevention and control in every health care setting
PA-118 PA-HAN-569 (July 1 - Sept. 15) and PA-047 PA-HAN-596 (Sept. 16-30): work restrictions for exposed health care personnel; PA-HAN-566 quarantine periods
PA-091 to PA-098 Department of State licensing suspensions (telemedicine; nursing permits; barber and cosmetology permits; dental examinations; appraiser deadlines) to their Aug.-Sept. 2021 expirations or Sept. 30, 2021
PA-108 Commonwealth-employee vaccinate-or-test policy (from Sept. 7, 2021)
PA-107 UC work-search requirement reinstated (July 18, 2021)
PA-045 (context) the school mask order was enforced until the courts acted Nov. 10 - Dec. 10, 2021
Local: Philadelphia Board of Health regulations of July 16 and Aug. 12-16, 2021 and Allegheny County instruments
Federal: CDC conveyance mask order, TSA directives, OSHA Healthcare ETS

Sector chronology

How the orders reached each kind of business in Pennsylvania, sector by sector, in the order the record gives. Open a sector to read its chronology; every exhibit named opens its record.

Restaurants and bars

Dine-in closed Mar. 16 (four counties, PA-082) and statewide Mar. 17-19, 2020 (PA-081, PA-002 § 2); carry-out only through red and yellow phases (PA-010); green phase 50 percent (PA-011, from May 29; southeast June 26); July 16, 2020: 25 percent indoor, alcohol only with meals, bar service prohibited, nightclubs closed (PA-016); Sept. 21: 50 percent with self-certification, 11:00 p.m. alcohol cutoff (PA-065); Nov. 25 5:00 p.m.: on-site alcohol suspended for the night (PA-072); Nov. 27: 25/50 percent, alcohol with meals, 11:00 p.m. (PA-022, PA-077); Dec. 12 - Jan. 4: all indoor dining prohibited (PA-028); Apr. 4, 2021: 50 percent (75 self-certified), bar service restored, alcohol rules and curfew ended (PA-033); May 31, 2021: all limits ended (PA-036). Mixed drinks to go May 21, 2020 - June 2021 for licensees down more than 25 percent (PA-075, PA-105); PLCB stores closed Mar. 17 - May 2020 (PA-117).

Retail

Non-life-sustaining retail closed Mar. 19/23 - yellow phase (May 8 - June 5, 2020) (PA-002, PA-004); open retail at 50 percent occupancy, masks, appointment-preferred from Apr. 19, 2020 (PA-008); green 75 percent (PA-011); Nov. 27, 2020: 75 percent (PA-022 § 3); Dec. 12 - Jan. 4: 50 percent (PA-028 § 5); Apr. 4, 2021: 75 percent (PA-033); May 31, 2021: ended.

Personal care

Salons, barbershops, spas, nail and massage closed Mar. 19/23, 2020 through the yellow phase (PA-004 'Personal Care Services No'; PA-010); green phase by appointment only (PA-011 § F, from May 29; southeast June 26); Nov. 27, 2020: 50 percent and appointment only (PA-022 § 6); Apr. 4, 2021: 75 percent (PA-033); May 31, 2021: ended; licensing-board relief recites closures and layoffs (PA-094).

Fitness and entertainment

Gyms, theaters, casinos, arcades, museums, spectator sports closed Mar. 19/23, 2020 through the yellow phase (PA-004, PA-010); green: open with distancing, events over 250 prohibited (PA-011); July 16, 2020: gyms directed to prioritize outdoor activity, indoor events over 25 prohibited (PA-016); Oct. 9: venues 10-20 percent indoors (PA-019); Nov. 27: gyms 50 percent, entertainment 50 percent (PA-022 §§ 4-5); Dec. 12 - Jan. 4: indoor gyms and all indoor entertainment prohibited (PA-028 §§ 6-7); Apr. 4, 2021: gyms 75 percent, events 25/50 percent (PA-033); May 17: 50/75 percent (PA-036); May 31: ended.

Hotels and short-term rentals

'Traveler Accommodation No' on the life-sustaining list (Mar. 19/23, 2020) with exemptions for essential lodging (PA-004); reopened with the phases; events and banquets capped by the gathering rules (25/250; 10-25 percent; 10/50; 25/50; 50/75) (PA-016, PA-019, PA-022, PA-028, PA-033, PA-036); Travel Mitigation Order Nov. 20, 2020 - Mar. 1, 2021 imposed test-or-quarantine on every inbound guest (PA-021, PA-070, PA-032).

Offices and telework

Non-life-sustaining offices (law, accounting, engineering, advertising, staffing) closed Mar. 19/23, 2020; 'This prohibition does not apply to virtual or telework operations' (PA-002, PA-004); yellow: businesses that can telework 'may not commence in-person business operations' (PA-010); green: 'Teleworking remains strongly encouraged' (PA-011); July 16, 2020 - Apr. 3, 2021: telework MANDATORY: 'Unless not possible, all businesses are required to conduct their operations in whole or in part remotely' (PA-016 § 4) and from Nov. 27, 'Unless impossible, all businesses must conduct their operations remotely' (PA-022 § 1(A)); Apr. 4, 2021: 'strongly encouraged' (PA-033); May 31, 2021: workplace rules ended; Commonwealth administrative proceedings remote from July 10, 2020 (PA-064).

Manufacturing

Textile, printing, fabricated metal, industrial machinery, motor vehicle and parts, furniture and most durable-goods manufacturing 'No' on the life-sustaining list; food, agricultural machinery and other enumerated groups 'Yes' (PA-004); closed Mar. 19/23 - yellow phase (May 8 - June 5, 2020) unless waived by DCED; Building Safety Order for plants over 50,000 sq. ft. (PA-007); Worker Safety Order (PA-008); PPE/medical-resource manufacturers' inventories reportable and commandeerable (PA-052); telework mandate for office functions July 16, 2020 - Apr. 3, 2021 (PA-016, PA-022).

Construction

Residential, heavy and civil, and specialty trade construction 'No' on the life-sustaining list; 'most construction projects' ordered to cease Mar. 19/23, 2020 (PA-004, PA-054); PennDOT construction suspended Mar. 16 (PA-102); restart May 1, 2020 statewide under mandatory guidance (PA-054, PA-111); thereafter the Worker Safety Order and the mitigation orders' workplace rules (PA-008, PA-022) to May 31, 2021; remote notarization and remote municipal meetings for permits and closings (PA-076).

Real estate

In-person real estate operations prohibited Mar. 20 - May 19, 2020 (PA-004 as amended Mar. 20; PA-058: permitted 'beginning on May 19, 2020'); notaries' physical presence suspended only for in-process residential and all commercial closings Mar. 25 (PA-093), remote notarization Apr. 2 and Act 15 of Apr. 20, 2020 (PA-096, PA-076); mandatory showing rules from May 19 (PA-059); appraiser exam sites closed (PA-098); evictions and foreclosure notices stayed May 11 - Aug. 31, 2020 (PA-056, PA-060, PA-063) after the judicial stay to May 11 (PA-087, PA-088); PHFA rental and mortgage relief program (PA-068).

Hospitals and long-term care

Elective procedures prohibited Mar. 17/19 - Apr. 27, 2020 (PA-069); daily reporting order Mar. 24, 2020 onward (PA-044, PA-041); PPE inventories reportable and subject to commandeering (PA-052); nursing home visitation restrictions kept in green phase (PA-011 § I); LTC universal testing June 8/26, 2020 (PA-116); Nov. 23, 2020 - Aug. 23, 2021 elective reduction order (PA-025, PA-101); SNF weekly reporting from May 30, 2021 (PA-038); HCP work exclusions of 14 days for exposed unvaccinated staff (PA-047, PA-118); vaccine-provider duties (PA-029, PA-034); Commonwealth-facility employees vaccinate-or-test from Sept. 7, 2021 (PA-108).

Dental and elective health care

Elective procedures prohibited at physician offices, dental offices, outpatient centers and hospitals from Mar. 17/19 to Apr. 27, 2020 (PA-004 notation; PA-069: 'Elective procedures were prohibited for 40 days'); dentists' live-patient licensing examinations suspended (PA-097); telemedicine authorized for every BPOA licensee from Mar. 18, 2020 to Sept. 30, 2021 and beyond (PA-091, PA-055, PA-040, PA-043); Nov. 23, 2020 - Aug. 23, 2021: hospitals to cut elective procedures by half on Department notice (PA-025, PA-101); health-care settings under PA-HAN-563/597 source control and screening through Q3 2021 (PA-046, PA-048).

Schools

All K-12 schools closed Mar. 16, 2020 for the balance of the school year (PA-119, PA-081, PA-074); fall 2020 reopening under Department guidance; Nov. 24, 2020 - May 31, 2021: attestation-or-remote order for schools in substantial-transmission counties (PA-071, PA-073, PA-037); Dec. 12, 2020 - Jan. 4, 2021: all school and youth sports suspended (PA-028 § 8); universal masking in schools under PA-020 § 4 to June 28, 2021; Sept. 7, 2021: face coverings ordered in every school entity (PA-042), enforced until Nov. 10 - Dec. 10, 2021 (PA-045).

Child care

All licensed child care centers closed Mar. 17, 2020 except providers waived by OCDEL for life-sustaining workers; 'Child Day Care Services No' (PA-081, PA-004, PA-005, PA-083); reopened with the county yellow phases (May 8 - June 5, 2020) under OCDEL guidance; Sept. 7, 2021: every DHS-licensed child care provider a 'School Entity' under the face-covering order (PA-042 § 1(8)).

Worship and gatherings

Gatherings outside the home 'generally prohibited' under stay-at-home (PA-005, PA-006); yellow: gatherings over 25 prohibited (PA-010); green: over 250 prohibited, places of worship excluded but urged to distance and mask (PA-011 §§ G-H); July 16: indoor over 25, outdoor over 250 (PA-016); Oct. 9: occupancy calculator 10-25 percent (PA-019); Nov. 27: 10 percent indoor / 15 percent outdoor, religious services exempt (PA-022 §§ 9, 11); Dec. 12 - Jan. 4: 10/50 persons (PA-028); Mar. 1, 2021: 15/20 percent (PA-031); Apr. 4: 25/50 (PA-033); May 17: 50/75 (PA-036); May 31: ended; funerals limited to ten persons by federal guidance recited by the funeral board (PA-095).

Courts and public offices

Statewide judicial emergency Mar. 16 - June 1, 2020; courts closed to the public Mar. 19 - Apr. 30; jurors excused; essential functions only (PA-084 to PA-089); local judicial emergencies continued into 2021; PennDOT driver license and photo centers closed Mar. 16, 2020, limited reopening from May 15 in yellow counties, expiration dates extended (PA-102, PA-103); Commonwealth agency hearings remote from July 10, 2020 (PA-064); local government meetings remote under Act 15 (PA-076).

Travel and quarantine

Stay-at-home orders limited travel to life-sustaining purposes Mar. 23 - June 4, 2020 (PA-005, PA-006); Travel Mitigation Orders Nov. 20, 2020 - Mar. 1, 2021: negative test within 72 hours or 14-day (later 10-day) quarantine for every person entering or returning, commuters and medical travel exempt (PA-021, PA-070, PA-027, PA-113, PA-032); exposed employees excluded from in-person work Nov. 27, 2020 - May 31, 2021 under the mitigation orders and PA-HAN-551/559/566 (PA-022, PA-031, PA-049, PA-118); health care personnel work exclusions through Q3 2021 (PA-047, PA-118).

Face coverings

Masks mandatory for employees and customers of every open business from 8:00 p.m. Apr. 19, 2020 (PA-008); universal face coverings July 1, 2020 (PA-015); Updated Order Nov. 18, 2020: indoors 'irrespective of physical distance', businesses 'must... Require... and take reasonable steps to enforce' (PA-020), amended Mar. 17, 2021 for vaccinated persons (PA-114) and May 2021 for the 70 percent sunset (PA-115); terminated 12:01 a.m. June 28, 2021 (PA-100, PA-106); school and child-care masking from Sept. 7, 2021 (PA-042); health-care source control throughout 2021 (PA-046, PA-048).

Vaccination mandates

No statewide mandate on private employers or health care workers was issued in 2021 (PA-108 negative finding); Commonwealth employees in State health care and congregate facilities vaccinate-or-test from Sept. 7, 2021 (PA-108); vaccine providers bound by the Governor's and Acting Secretary's orders from Feb. 12, 2021 (PA-029, PA-034); Philadelphia's health-care-worker regulation of Aug. 12-16, 2021 and the federal instruments supply the vaccination layer.

Standing duties

The statutes, codes and penalty provisions of Pennsylvania that stood before March 2020 and ran through every claimable quarter. They are the reason nothing an employer did under the orders was voluntary. Read the Pennsylvania duties →

Pennsylvania's pandemic law rested on four standing statutes and one regulation, each older than the pandemic and each in force in every one of the six quarters. First, the Emergency Management Services Code, 35 Pa.C.S. sec. 7301, made the Governor 'responsible for meeting the dangers to this Commonwealth and people presented by disasters,' gave his 'executive orders, proclamations and regulations... the force and effect of law,' and authorized him to control 'the movement of persons within the area and the occupancy of premises therein' (Ex. DUT-PA-003); every business closure, stay-at-home, reopening and mitigation order in States/PA recites sec. 7301, and the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania held on April 13, 2020 that the March 19 closure order was a valid exercise of the police power under it (Ex. DUT-PA-020). Second, the Disease Prevention and Control Law of 1955 commanded that on report of a disease subject to control measures the Department of Health 'shall carry out the appropriate control measures,' authorized rules on 'the enforcement of isolation quarantine and other control measures,' and made any person who violates the act or a regulation liable to a fine of $25 to $300 and thirty days' imprisonment in default (Ex. DUT-PA-001); its regulation, 28 Pa. Code sec. 27.60, directed the Department and every local health authority to impose 'any other disease control measure... necessary to protect the public from the spread of infectious agents' (Ex. DUT-PA-005), with the penalty restated at 28 Pa. Code sec. 27.8 (Ex. DUT-PA-009). Third, the Administrative Code of 1929 and the Department of Health Act of 1905 imposed on the Department the duty 'to determine and employ the most efficient and practical means for the prevention and suppression of disease,' to 'establish and enforce quarantines' and to abate nuisances on premises whose owner or occupant 'fails to comply with any order of the department' (Exs. DUT-PA-002, DUT-PA-019, DUT-PA-007), and section 16 of the 1905 Act (71 P.S. sec. 1409) made 'every person who violates any order or regulation of the Department of Health' guilty of a summary offense (Ex. DUT-PA-007). The Commonwealth's enforcement guidance to every police department and District Attorney, issued between March 19 and March 23, 2020, designated 71 P.S. sec. 1409 and 35 P.S. sec. 521.20(a) as the citation provisions for violations of the orders and 18 Pa.C.S. sec. 5101 for 'more serious violators' (Ex. DUT-PA-010). Fourth, the General Safety Law of 1937 bound every 'room, building or place within this Commonwealth where persons are employed' to be 'operated, and conducted as to provide reasonable and adequate protection for the life, limb, health, safety, and morals of all persons employed therein,' enforced by the Department of Labor and Industry with summary penalties (Ex. DUT-PA-006); Pennsylvania is a federal-OSHA State, and the OSH Act general duty clause, 29 U.S.C. sec. 654(a)(1), already in the library as DUT-AL-009, DUT-AR-011 and DUT-CO-009, ran beside it. For businesses that serve food, the Retail Food Facility Safety Act forbade any proprietor to 'allow any food employee to be in a retail food facility if that person has an infectious or communicable disease,' required every facility to be 'kept in a clean and sanitary condition,' and punished violations of 'any... order made under this subchapter' with summary fines and civil penalties to $10,000 per offense (Exs. DUT-PA-013, DUT-PA-016, DUT-PA-017); the Food Code made retention of the license conditional on compliance with the Department's 'orders, warnings and other directives... in response to community emergencies' (Ex. DUT-PA-014); and the Liquor Code let the Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement cite any licensee for 'any violation of... any laws of this Commonwealth' or 'any other sufficient cause,' with fines and suspension (Ex. DUT-PA-018). The emergency orders filled these vessels with COVID-19 content. The March 19, 2020 closure order let life-sustaining businesses stay open only if they 'follow, at a minimum, the social distancing practices and other mitigation measures defined by the Centers for Disease Control to protect workers and patrons' (PA-002); the April 15, 2020 Worker Safety Order commanded that every business with in-person operations 'shall implement' cleaning, screening, distancing, masking and 50 percent occupancy protocols, with the Department's FAQ stating that employers 'are required to provide masks' and that 'all businesses are ordered to wait a minimum of 24 hours' before cleaning an exposed area (PA-008; Ex. DUT-PA-008); the Yellow and Green Phase Orders and the July 15 and November 23, 2020 mitigation orders let any business conduct in-person operations only 'provided that the businesses fully comply with all substantive aspects of' the Building and Worker Safety Orders 'and all existing and future applicable guidance' of the Administration, the Department and the CDC (PA-010, PA-011, PA-016, PA-023), and made telework compulsory 'unless not possible' (July 16, 2020) and 'unless impossible' (November 27, 2020 to April 3, 2021); the November 17, 2020 face-covering order required every business to 'require that all people, including their employees, customers... wear a face covering and take reasonable steps to enforce the requirement' (PA-020); the Governor's FAQ of October 6, 2020 answered 'Does an Order mean mandatory? Is this a law?' with 'Yes, it is mandatory' (Ex. DUT-PA-015); and the November 23, 2020 order wrote a graduated enforcement scheme for retail establishments and restaurants (warning letter; citation, fine and closure up to 24 hours on a second violation; closure of at least 24 hours, fines and referral for prosecution under 18 Pa.C.S. sec. 5101 thereafter) (PA-023 sec. 13). Pennsylvania enacted no general COVID-19 liability shield: the General Assembly passed House Bill 1737, whose safe harbor turned on an 'act or omission in compliance with... public health directives' (Ex. DUT-PA-012), and the Governor vetoed it on November 30, 2020 because 'providing immunity for a business that does not rigorously comply with public health orders does not ensure the safety of the public' (Ex. DUT-PA-011); the only executive immunity for businesses, section 14 of the November 23, 2020 order, ran 'only as related to enforcement of the Secretary of Health's Updated Order Requiring Universal Face Coverings' and 'shall not apply to liability of employers with respect to their employees' (PA-023). Recorded exactly: the orders' operating conditions use 'shall,' 'must' and 'are required'; the Green Phase Order's telework clause and the Worker Safety Order's return-to-work clause use 'strongly encouraged' and 'should' and are recorded as recommendations that became compulsory only through the incorporating clause ('fully comply with all substantive aspects of... all existing and future applicable guidance'); 35 Pa.C.S. sec. 7707 penalizes violations of the Emergency Management Council's 'plans and programs,' not the Governor's orders as such, and the Commonwealth accordingly charged violations under the health statutes.

The question these duties answer

Whether the measures Pennsylvania employers took that the Service calls 'beyond' the closure and stay-at-home orders were 'voluntary' in the sense of Notice 2021-20 Q&A-14 (a suspension or reduction 'not due to a governmental order'). Answer: they were not. From March 19, 2020 to May 31, 2021 every business that kept any in-person operation in Pennsylvania did so only on the conditions the Governor's and the Secretary of Health's orders attached ('must follow, at a minimum, the social distancing practices and other mitigation measures defined by the Centers for Disease Control,' PA-002 sec. 1; 'shall implement... the following social distancing, mitigation, and cleaning protocols,' PA-008 para. A; 'provided that the businesses fully comply with all substantive aspects of... all existing and future applicable guidance issued by my Administration, the Department of Health (DOH) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),' PA-011 sec. 1(B); 'Unless impossible, all businesses must conduct their operations remotely,' PA-023 sec. 1(A)); those orders had 'the force and effect of law' under 35 Pa.C.S. sec. 7301(b) (Ex. DUT-PA-003), as the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania held on April 13, 2020 (Ex. DUT-PA-020); every person who violated 'any order or regulation of the Department of Health' committed a summary offense under 71 P.S. sec. 1409 (Ex. DUT-PA-007) and 35 P.S. sec. 521.20 (Ex. DUT-PA-001), the two provisions the Commonwealth designated for citations (Ex. DUT-PA-010); throughout all six quarters the General Safety Law bound every establishment to be 'operated, and conducted as to provide reasonable and adequate protection for the life, limb, health, safety, and morals of all persons employed therein' (Ex. DUT-PA-006), the Department of Health held the statutory duty 'to determine and employ the most efficient and practical means for the prevention and suppression of disease' (Exs. DUT-PA-002, DUT-PA-007, DUT-PA-019) and the regulatory command to 'direct... any other disease control measure... necessary to protect the public from the spread of infectious agents' (Ex. DUT-PA-005), and every retail food facility operator held its license only on condition that it 'comply with directives of the Department or licensor... in response to community emergencies' (Ex. DUT-PA-014); and the Commonwealth enacted no general liability shield because, in the Governor's words on vetoing House Bill 1737, 'we should not be providing protection for noncompliance or carelessness' with 'public health orders' (Ex. DUT-PA-011).

By character

5 Order penalty
3 Sanitary code duty
3 Statutory authority
2 Agency position statement
2 Not enacted
2 Statutory duty
1 Adjudication
1 Guidance incorporated
1 Workplace duty

Exhibits

Ex. DUT-PA-001 Ex. DUT-PA-002 Ex. DUT-PA-003 Ex. DUT-PA-004 Ex. DUT-PA-005 Ex. DUT-PA-006 Ex. DUT-PA-007 Ex. DUT-PA-008 Ex. DUT-PA-009 Ex. DUT-PA-010 Ex. DUT-PA-011 Ex. DUT-PA-012 Ex. DUT-PA-013 Ex. DUT-PA-014 Ex. DUT-PA-015 Ex. DUT-PA-016 Ex. DUT-PA-017 Ex. DUT-PA-018 Ex. DUT-PA-019 Ex. DUT-PA-020

The Pennsylvania duties, read in full 20 duty records in the Library →

On the calendar

Every dated instrument in the Pennsylvania file across the nineteen months from March 2020 through September 2021, in the order it took effect. A bar takes the color of the instrument's first limitation type and runs from its effective month through its end month; a fading edge marks an instrument whose end the record does not date. Point at a bar for its dates; open the bar for the record.

Emergency declaration 7Stay-at-home 5Business closure 19Telework mandate 13Capacity limit 19Gathering cap 24Face-covering requirement 14Travel and quarantine 10Schools and child care 13Health care orders 19Curfew and hours 8Alcohol and bars 19Events and venues 12Courts and public offices 15Workplace rules 24Vaccination or testing 1Quarantine and isolation 9Supply chain 2Other 25