WOLF ADMINISTRATION ANNOUNCES CHANGES FOR OCCUPANCY LIMITS FOR EVENTS

The Wolf Administration has announced that the guidelines for safe gathering limits have been amended.

The new amendments go into effect on Friday and will change the orders that were put in place on July 15^th, with one of the changes being a “maximum occupancy calculator” for both indoor and outdoor events. The total number of people that will be allowed is determined by the maximum occupancy for an event location and whether the event is an indoor or outdoor event.

For facilities that have an occupancy limit of 2,000 people or less, the allowable rate would be 20 percent of the maximum occupancy for an indoor event, while an outdoor event would have 25 percent of the maximum occupancy. For between 2,001 and 10,000 people, the allowable indoor rate would be 15 percent while the outdoor rate would be 20 percent. For events of more than 10,000 people, the indoor allowable rate would be 10 percent of the maximum occupancy up to 3,750 people, and the outdoor allowable rate would be 15 percent of the maximum occupancy up to 7,500 people. The occupancy limits would include spectators and staff who are working the event.

For high school sports, the PA Department of Health said that the occupancy limit includes student-athletes, staff, coaches, spectators and anyone who is in attendance for the event.

Venues must require attendees to comply with the six-foot social distancing requirements, to wear masks or face coverings and to implement best practices like timed entry, multiple entrances and exits, multiple restrooms and hygiene stations.

Local and state officials have started to comment on the announcement. Jody Rainey of the Heritage Conference said that it initially is good news, but the districts in the conference are continuing to digest the information.

State representative Jim Struzzi was also happy to see that more people would be able to attend outdoor events, but said he was still has some concerns.