It looks like some Pennsylvanians are going to be able to get back to work.

At the same time as the first round of one-time stimulus checks are being direct deposited into citizen's bank accounts, both the state senate and the state Department of Health are making moves toward reopening business safely in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Pennsylvania State Senate passed two bills Wednesday focused on COVID-19 mitigation efforts and Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Rachel Levine signed an order outlining measures businesses have to implement to keep essential workers safe and healthy if they are to reopen or stay open.

Mitigation plans for businesses, counties

Senate Bill 613, which is headed to Gov. Tom Wolf's desk, would require Wolf to create clear guidelines for businesses to operate during the pandemic. The guidelines would be based on those provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Cyber and Infrastructure Security Agency, part of the Department of Homeland Security.

Businesses that are able to operate safely under the new guidelines would be permitted to reopen so long as they comply with the mitigation strategies.

“The initial call to action by the (Wolf) administration was appropriate at that time,” said Sen. Scott Hutchinson, R-21st. “However, as we have found with many issues, Pennsylvania is a very diverse state, as such a 'one size fits all' approach rarely works.”

The second Senate bill, which is heading back to the House for the review of amendments, would give county governments the option to develop and implement individual plans to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, following approved guidelines. Counties would be given the authority to develop plans to reopen some industries if doing so can happen in a safe manner.

“We are by no means completely abandoning the mitigation steps that are in place. This plague is far from over,” said Sen. Joe Pittman, R-41st. “However, we need to look to the future and establish a recovery process for the Commonwealth. This process should not be dictated from the top down, but rather be a collaborative effort that relies on the expertise of our local officials.”

New order focuses on protecting workers

While these bills continue their path through the Legislature, an order signed by Levine takes effect at 8 p.m. Sunday and is focused on protections for critical workers employed at businesses already authorized to maintain in-person operations. Among the list of requirements, companies must:

n Provide masks for employees to wear

n Stagger work and start times

n Provide space for breaks and meals, while maintaining a social distance of six feet

n Conduct meetings and trainings virtually

n Prohibit non-essential visitors from entering the premises of the business

n Require customers entering the business to wear masks, minus a few exceptions

n Ensure new procedures are communicated to employees in their native or preferred language.

Levine's order goes into a more exhaustive list of requirements including how to respond to possible COVID-19 exposure within the building, cleaning protocols, and requirements for customer facing businesses like altering business hours and occupancy limits. Her full order can be found at https://www.governor.pa.gov/newsroom.

Stimulus payments on the way to accounts

Government relief checks began arriving in Americans' bank accounts Wednesday as the economic damage to the United States from the coronavirus piled up and the reopening of stores in Europe and China made it clear that businesses won't necessarily bounce right back when the crisis eases.

With lockdowns and other restrictions bringing factories to a shuddering halt, American industrial output shriveled in March, registering its biggest decline since the U.S. demobilized in 1946 at the end of World War II. And retail sales fell by an unprecedented 8.7 percent, with April expected to be far worse.

The world's biggest economy this week began issuing one-time payments to tens of millions of people as part of its $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief package, with adults receiving up to $1,200 each and $500 per child to help households make the rent or cover other bills. The checks will be directly deposited into bank accounts or mailed to households, depending on how they filed their tax returns in the past.

The first steps in lifting the economically crippling restrictions in other parts of the world are running into resistance, with shoppers and other customers staying away from the reopened businesses and workers afraid the newly restored freedoms could put their health at risk.

More than 2 million cases worldwide, 7 local

Worldwide, deaths have topped 128,000 and confirmed infections have surpassed 2 million, according to the tally kept by Johns Hopkins University. The figures understate the true size of the crisis, in part because of limited testing, different ways of counting the dead, and concealment by some governments.

The U.S. has reported more than 26,000 deaths — the highest in the world — and more than 600,000 confirmed infections, by Johns Hopkins' count. Still, the nightmare scenarios projecting a far greater number of deaths and hospitalizations have not come to pass, raising hopes from coast to coast.

Statewide, Pennsylvania saw 1,145 new cases reported overnight, with 63 deaths.

Closer to home, Butler County reported seven new cases of the virus overnight, including eight patients at Butler Memorial Hospital — six with confirmed cases of COVID-19 and three listed in the hospital's ICU.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.