Thirteen counties in western Pennsylvania will move to the state's "yellow" phase on May 15, allowing them to being reopening their economies, Gov. Tom Wolf announced Friday.
They follow 24 counties in the state's northwest and northcentral regions that entered the yellow phase today.
The rest of the state, including Lancaster County, remains in the "red phase" of full lockdown to combat the Covid-19 pandemic. This week, the governor extended the lockdown order to June 4, though counties that meet state guidelines will be eligible to phase out before then.
Lancaster County commissioners Ray D'Agostino and Josh Parsons and U.S. Rep. Lloyd Smucker have been pushing for the county to reopen sooner.
On Facebook today, Parsons called Wolf's extension of the lockdown "unacceptable."
The counties scheduled to move to yellow status on May 15 are: Allegheny, Armstrong, Bedford, Blair, Butler, Cambria, Fayette, Fulton, Greene, Indiana, Somerset, Washington and Westmoreland.
The previously announced counties that moved to yellow today are: Bradford, Cameron, Centre, Clarion, Clearfield, Clinton, Crawford, Elk, Erie, Forest, Jefferson, Lawrence, Lycoming, McKean, Mercer, Montour, Northumberland, Potter, Snyder, Sullivan, Tioga, Union, Venango, and Warren.
