HARRISBURG - With the economic fallout of the pandemic shutdown growing, Gov. Tom Wolf maintained Tuesday that he would stick to a reopening process that relies on what he sees as indicators tied to safety.

Wolf also acknowledged that the state, as it begins lifting stay-at-home orders and allowing many businesses to reopen in 24 counties this Friday, will be unable to investigate or enforce every complaint about an employer not following his administration’s safety guidance to protect workers and customers.

On a conference call with reporters, Wolf acknowledged fielding complaints from lawmakers from various regions about lifting restrictions there sooner, or removing hard-hit nursing homes from regional case counts that factor in to whether he will lift restrictions.

However, Wolf otherwise said it is not realistic to ignore case counts in prisons and nursing homes, and he said that setting a schedule to reopen counties would be arbitrary.

“What we’re trying to do is keep people safe … and we’re going to be guided by that as we were guided in opening 24 counties last week,” Wolf said. “The next round, when it comes, is going to come when we feel it’s OK to open another series of counties.”

Wolf promised an announcement on Allegheny County and southwestern Pennsylvania “soon.” The county, with 1.2 million people, and its immediate area remain under the governor’s strictest orders, the so-called “red” designation.

Real estate transactions

Starting Friday, real estate activity can resume in areas designated as yellow under the governor’s reopening plan, albeit with limitations. That includes no more than two people in a property at one time for in-person inspections, showings or walk-throughs, and social distancing precautions must be taken as well, including masks.

Hank Lerner, director of law and policy for the Pennsylvania Association of Realtors, said social distancing guidelines mean that open houses are pretty much off the table. But, he said, the Wolf administration should have allowed three people to go into houses together to accommodate both spouses and their agent. Otherwise, two such tours might be necessary, thus potentially increasing exposure to the virus, Lerner said.

In areas still designated as red, the only allowed transactions are where a buyer’s property was already under contract before Wolf’s March 19 order to close non-life-sustaining businesses. Someone who sells their house under one of those contracts is allowed to buy another house to live in, although the problem with that, Lerner said, is that the person they are buying from may not have a place to live since they, in turn, cannot buy a house in a county designated as red.

The association, in the meantime, is backing legislation that would allow agents to resume operations as long as they adhere to social distancing practices and other federal guidelines.

Liquor stores

The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board today announced that 77 Fine Wine & Good Spirits stores in counties designated in the yellow phase of COVID-19 mitigation efforts will resume limited in-store public access beginning Friday, abiding by guidance for businesses issued by the Wolf Administration detailing social distancing requirements and other best practices in the interest of public health and safety.

Stores will limit the number of customers in a store at any time, allowing no more than 25 people (employees and customers) in any location and further restricting numbers of customers in smaller stores.

The first hour each store is open each day will be reserved for customers at high risk for COVID-19, including those 65 years of age and older. Voluntary compliance from all customers is encouraged in the interest of protecting the health and safety of our most vulnerable community members.

Customers and employees will be required to wear masks and practice social distancing, guided by signage throughout the stores.

Signs will also direct customers to follow one-way patterns to avoid cross-traffic and encourage them to refrain from touching products unless they intend to buy them.

Store employees will perform enhanced and frequent cleaning and disinfecting, and store hours will be modified to ensure appropriate time for cleaning and restocking.

Before opening to the public, each location was professionally sanitized, and Plexiglas was installed at registers to provide a physical barrier between employees and customers at checkout. All Fine Wine & Good Spirits employees are being provided masks, gloves and frequent opportunities to wash hands.