Outdoor dining will return to Pennsylvania counties starting June 5. NBC10’s Matt DeLucia has the details.
Restaurants across the Philadelphia can start preparing to serve patrons on their premises once again, come June 5, when all counties enter the "yellow" phase of Pennsylvania's reopening process, Gov. Tom Wolf said Wednesday.
Here's what the state said in guidance issued Wednesday:
Restaurants and retail food service businesses located in counties designated as being in the yellow phase are permitted (to) add dine-in service in outdoor seating areas so long as they strictly adhere to the requirements of the guidance, including maximum occupancy limits:
- Indoor areas, including bar areas, of restaurants and retail food service businesses must be closed to customers except for through-traffic. Non-bar seating in outdoor areas (i.e., tables or counter seats that do not line up to a bar or food service area) may be used for customer seating.
- Customers being served must be seated at a table.
Those counties that are moving to the "green" phase next week, and any counties that enter that phase in the future, will be allowed to restart indoor food service under limited operations, the guidance also said.
Professional sports teams in yellow and green phase counties will also be allowed to begin practicing and playing. Fans, however, are not yet allowed. Any teams that restart play will need to have a COVID-19 reopening plan approved by Pennsylvania.
On May 22, Wolf announced that Philadelphia, along with Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties, would soon join the state's 49 other counties that have already restored more businesses and services under the yellow phase of the state reopening. In addition to the five-county Philadelphia region, all of Pennsylvania's 67 counties would be yellow or green by June 5.
