When Gov. Tom Wolf issued his stay-at-home order last week for the seven counties hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic, Monroe, by far the smallest of the seven, was among them. Since then, more counties have been included in the governor’s edict, but why was Monroe initially included along with the likes of Philadelphia, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Allegheny?

One of the big reasons is that an estimated 20,000, or about one in eight, of the county’s 160,000 residents, works in New York City and commutes there mostly by bus or train.

That has changed almost overnight, especially since Martz Trailways and other bus lines which serve Poconos-to-New York customers have temporarily suspended service. Other Pocono residents drive to the Morristown, New Jersey, area to pick up an NJ Transit train to work in northeastern New Jersey and New York City.

This has caused consternation and chaos among employees who are still working at businesses that are considered to be critical and operational in those areas, including hospitals and other health care facilities.

This has forced them to look for other ways to get to work. In most cases, they are relying on their own vehicles, but now those who go back and forth daily - those who cannot work from home - have something else to worry about: Everyone coming from New York has been encouraged to self-quarantine for 14 days.

This is not mandatory - at least not yet.

Gov. Tom Wolf emphasized on Saturday that there are no plans on the table now to completely restrict travel between Pennsylvania and New York. Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine said “community spread,” not an outbreak from out-of-state hot spots, is fueling the rapidly rising number of cases. “It’s hard to determine whether we have seen any cases that have spread from New York,” Levine said. “At this point, we don’t think this is a big problem,” Wolf added.

Last week, the White House coronavirus task force, citing concerns about the high infection rate in the New York City area, suggested that everyone who has left there recently self-isolate for 14 days.

Deborah Birx, the response coordinator for the task force, said that more than 50 percent of all new cases in the United States are coming from the New York City metro area. She warned that because of the large number of cases, people leaving for other places may have been exposed.

State Sen. Mario Scavello, R-Monroe and Northampton, said during the weekend that he had insisted that Wolf follow the White House’s lead in calling for a two-week quarantine for those traveling from New York to Pennsylvania. “Thank you, Governor, for listening to the people of Monroe and Northampton counties,” Scavello said.

In addition to Monroe, two other Pocono counties with large numbers of New York City employees - Pike and Wayne - have been added to the stay-at-home list.