Gov. Tom Wolf understands there is a difference between life as it currently is and how many Pennsylvania residents would like it to be.

While the process for reopening the state has been gradual and slower than some would like, it’s still one he believes is the best way forward.

“We are trying to move in a responsible way, and I think we are doing it in an effective way, and a measured way, to move from red to yellow,” Wolf said in a conference call with reporters on Wednesday. “We will have 49 of 67 counties, I think that’s close to three-quarters of the counties in Pennsylvania, are now in the yellow phase, and have been, or after tomorrow will be in the yellow phase.

“So I think we’re getting a lot of credit for having saved lives by doing the things that we’ve done in the measured way we’re doing it. I have not talked to any public health official who says we should be doing things differently.”

There will be 12 additional counties moving from red to yellow at midnight this coming Friday, including Carbon, leaving the remaining 18 counties in the red phase.

Wolf is in no rush to pull back mitigation efforts.

“It’s going to get down to what the individual citizens of Pennsylvania want to do,” he said. “And my sense is that what it’s going to take to get people back to big events, what it’s going to take to get people back to shopping, back to work, back to school, is ultimately going to be a vaccine. Some assurance that they’re not going to get sick.

“I think in the interim, we’re looking at things that we can do to increase testing; we’re now up to 11,000 tests a day - it wasn’t too long ago we were in the 6,000 range per day. I think a better understanding of what antibody testing can be a quicker turnaround on diagnostic testing. Those things are going to be important. Contact tracing is going to be important.”

The race for a vaccine currently has more questions than answers. A solution is one that will likely require cooperation - and patience.

“But ultimately, I think what it’s going to take for everybody to feel safe going to a Penn State game, or a basketball game, is that they have some confidence that they’re not going to get sick by being in close contact with somebody else,” said Wolf. “I think that’s what it’s going to take to really get our economy back to normal. I’m personally not sure that can happen, or happen fully, 100%, until we get to a vaccine that is foolproof.

“That’s my own sense. I think what we’ve done in the meantime to buy time for the health care system and all that has been working. Drexel University had a study that said 7,000 lives were saved by this measured closing down that we did in Pennsylvania, just in Philadelphia alone. And I think we’ve saved a lot of lives across Pennsylvania.”

Wolf also expressed hope that the developments in place now could offer remedies in the future.

“That’s why I think it’s so important that we focus on building our testing capacity,” he said. “That’s why it’s important that we focus on building our capacity to develop a vaccine quickly. That’s why it’s important that we understand how to do contact tracing so that if and when and infectious disease arises again, we’re not caught unaware; we’re not caught without the capacity to deal with it.”

Working on it

Wolf offered some insight on the status of sporting events in Pennsylvania, indicating that a more comprehensive update is on the horizon.

“I am working with a number of professional sports groups, from NASCAR, to the NFL, to NHL, to MLB, and others, to figure out how we can move to some semblance of normalcy as we get back into sports seasons,” he said.

“And I want to be consistent, so in the next few days I’ll have more serious guidelines on how we can do this. But we have got to do this in a way, there’s so many different venues for sports; there’s so many different activities out there, that we need to make sure we’re providing guidelines that are consistent and actually make sense.

“Again, in the end, the ultimate arbiter of our fate here when it comes to sporting events is going to be individuals who want to participate, individuals who want to be part of sports, whether it’s amateur or professional, and we got to make sure we give them the confidence that they can go to these sporting events and feel safe, that they’re not taking their lives, or health into their hands.”

Wolf recently said the NASCAR race scheduled to run at Pocono next month could proceed if Monroe County was in the yellow phase.

The directives for sporting events are something Wolf hopes to apply to other large gatherings as well.

“The guidelines that exist for people and events, we want to make sure that they’re consistent,” he said. “So whether it’s a fair, or it’s a sports gathering, we want to get to the point where we have guidance where everybody can use in the same situation.

“And again, it’s not the guidelines, it’s not me, it’s the virus talking. The virus finds it easy to spread when a lot of people get together in close quarters. That’s the reality. And that’s the reality we have to deal with. As much as we hate it, as much as it really frustrates us, as much as it keeps us from doing the things we want to do, that’s the reality that we’ve got to acknowledge, and that’s the reality that’s constraining our behavior at this point.”

Send it in

With the rescheduled general primary election rapidly approaching on June 2, Wolf attempted to dispel concerns that have been raised regarding mail-in ballots.

“The opportunity for fraud is pretty limited,” said Wolf. “I’m not sure what anybody would be referring to in terms of how it’s easier to engage in fraud here. There are some concerns that I heard raised about people receiving two ballots in the mail, but the machines that read this in the counties will not take two ballots from the same person. So I’m just not aware of other opportunities for using this to defraud the ballot.

“But I do know it’s much more convenient than having to get up on one day and vote in the traditional manner. In Pennsylvania, thanks to Act 77, we now have 50 days, more than any other state in the United States to vote. And so from a point of view of convenience, and I think counties have done everything they need to do to ensure the validity of the vote, that this should be a really good, easy and safe and reliable way to cast a ballot this year.”