What State College’s mayor, council president said in statement supportive of state’s COVID-19 efforts
State College’s mayor and council president issued a joint statement Monday night, lauding state officials for last week’s stricter COVID-19 measures while also imploring residents to continue supporting local businesses.
Council President Jesse Barlow read from a prepared statement during the virtual council meeting, while Mayor Ron Filippelli looked on and several council members nodded in agreement.
“On Thursday, Dec. 10, Gov. Tom Wolf and Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine announced protective and mitigation efforts to assist in slowing the spread of COVID-19 throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” Barlow said. “We would like to commend their efforts to take the necessary steps to protect our community.”
Wolf’s order was largely greeted in two distinct ways along party lines, with Democrats mostly in agreement while preaching health and safety and with Republicans largely in disagreement while emphasizing individual responsibility and open businesses.
Wolf’s latest order was far-reaching. It put a pause on in-person dining, capped indoor gatherings at 10 and outdoor gatherings at 50, stopped high school sports, and essentially closed gyms and entertainment businesses such as movie theaters, casinos and bowling alleys. The order remains in effect until 8 a.m. on Jan. 4.
“As hospitalizations continue to rise and we experience community spread locally, these efforts help our community members,” Barlow added. “We commend their efforts to utilize a science- and research-based approach to these mitigation orders.”
Wolf and Levine alluded to several studies that showed pausing in-person dining, for example, appeared to scientifically be the correct decision. Research from Stanford showed restaurants accounted for a “significant amount of new infections” and research from Yale showed closing restaurants reduced fatality rates. A study by JP Morgan that analyzed credit card spending among 30 million Chase cardholders also showed higher restaurant spending in a state predicted a rise in new infections three weeks later.
Still, those numbers and stats can’t undo the financial harm caused by shutting down, or limiting, businesses. So Barlow and Filippelli also asked residents for their support there.
“We understand that local businesses are once again feeling the negative impacts of these new mitigation efforts,” Barlow said. “We want to ask our community members to help support these businesses throughout the next three weeks by ordering takeout, writing a positive review of a business or sharing a post on social media about a business, and mask-up and physically visit those businesses that are still safely open.
“Please shop small. Please support our local businesses throughout this trying time.”
Barlow and Filippelli made one final appeal before wrapping up their brief joint statement.
“We are asking that you stay at home as much as possible, wear a mask, physically distance and practice good health habits like washing your hands,” Barlow said. “It will take everyone in our community and surrounding areas to stop the local spread of COVID-19.”
