The coronavirus death toll grew Thursday by more than 300 as Gov. Tom Wolf ordered most Pennsylvania residents to stay at home until June 4, extending a statewide edict he first imposed April 1 to slow the spread of the new virus.
The revised stay-at-home order, issued late Thursday to replace one that was set to expire at midnight, applies to all counties that remain under Wolf's strictest lockdown orders — meaning that for now, millions of people face the prospect of at least another month at home.
At the same time, the governor is planning to allow more counties with relatively few virus infections to emerge from some pandemic restrictions. He said he will reveal the names of those counties on Friday. They will join 24 counties in the lightly populated and mostly rural north where Wolf has already lifted his stay-at-home orders and allowed retailers and many other kinds of businesses to reopen beginning Friday morning.
Republicans have accused Wolf of moving too slowly to reopen Pennsylvania’s battered and largely shuttered economy.
Earlier Thursday, Wolf extended a moratorium on foreclosures and evictions by another two months, until July 10, saying residents shouldn’t have to worry about losing their homes during the pandemic.
