Ciresi applauds new guidelines on safe gathering limits

HARRISBURG, Oct. 6 – State Rep. Joe Ciresi, D-Montgomery, welcomed Gov. Tom Wolf’s amended guidelines on safe gathering limits announced Tuesday. The new limits, which go into effect Friday, introduce a sliding scale based on percentage of venue maximum capacity, similar to restaurants.

“I am glad that Governor Wolf has listened to our requests and concerns with the previous limits,” Ciresi said. “This entire time, I have been asking why we can’t at least let our parents in to watch their children – especially high school seniors – play sports. From speaking with local school districts, I know we can safely accommodate spectators. And, with this change, we can make that happen while still maintaining social distancing and keeping safety at the forefront.”

The statewide announcement made by Wolf and Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine amended existing COVID-19 orders to allow for adjusted capacity to gathering limits while keeping in place the proven mitigation tools that include wearing masks and maintaining physical distance.

Starting this Friday, Oct. 9, amended orders will allow for venue occupancy limits to play a bigger role in determining the number of people permitted both inside and outside of events or gatherings. An event or gathering is defined as a temporary grouping of individuals for defined purposes that takes place over a limited timeframe, such as hours or days, including fairs, festivals, concerts, or shows and groupings that occur within larger, more permanent businesses, such as shows or performances within amusement parks, individual showings of movies, business meetings or conferences, or each party or reception within a multi-room venue.

Conversely, groups of people who share a space within a building in the ordinary course of operations, such as in an office building, classroom, production floor or similar regularly occurring operation of a business or organization, are not events or gatherings.

All businesses are required to conduct their operations remotely through individual teleworking of their employees in the jurisdiction or jurisdictions in which they do business unless that is not possible. In those instances, employees may conduct in-person business operations, provided that the businesses fully comply with the business safety order, the worker safety order and the masking order.

The orders amend two sections of the July 15 mitigation orders and include a “maximum occupancy calculator” for both indoor and outdoor events. Based on a venue’s established occupancy limit as defined by the National Fire Protection Association Life Safety Code, venues apply the appropriate percent of occupancy to determine how many attendees are permitted to attend an event or gathering.

More information is available by contacting Ciresi’s office at 484-200-8265.