Coronavirus Pandemic

Reopening Pennsylvania

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to disrupt the economy, government officials and business leaders consider how to reopen economic activity while keeping citizens safe.

Air Date: May 5, 2020 10:00 am

Businesses on Walnut Street in Center City Philadelphia are boarded up during non-essential business shutdown orders aimed to slow the spread of COVID-19. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)

Guests: Patrick Harker, Katie Meyer, David Rubin

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to disrupt the economy, government officials and business leaders are considering the best way to reopen economic activity while still keeping citizens safe from the virus. We begin today by speaking with PATRICK HARKER, President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia to get his thoughts on the best practices for getting Philadelphia back to business. Then, WHYY’s KATIE MEYER will give us the rundown on Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf’s timeline to ease shutdown restrictions in parts of the commonwealth. Then, we look at a forecast for infections in our region over the summer as temperatures warm and social distancing loosens. DAVID RUBIN, director of the PolicyLab at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia talks about a model they developed for projecting coronavirus spread across the U.S., what it tells us about safely reopening the Delaware Valley and why Philadelphia should be cautious.

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