Butler County along with 12 others will move into the yellow phase of the reopening process on May 15. Twenty-four counties moved to yellow Friday. Thirty other counties remain in the red phase.

Despite mixed signals Thursday night, Butler County will indeed move to the yellow phase May 15 as part of Gov. Tom Wolf's reopening process.

“As with the 24 counties that entered the yellow phase today, these 13 counties will see an increasing number of businesses and activities reopen,” Wolf said. “However, residents should be mindful that yellow still means be cautious.”

In addition to Butler County, Allegheny, Armstrong, Bedford, Blair, Cambria, Fayette, Fulton, Greene, Indiana, Somerset, Washington and Westmoreland counties will also move to the yellow phase on May 15. Thirty counties remain in the red phase.

Mark Gordon, Butler County chief of economic development and planning, said in a statement the move would help the county's economy.

“This is a great next step on the road to a full opening,” Gordon said.

During the Friday news conference, Wolf warned the movement in phases may be reversed if it appears a county loses control of its grip on the coronavirus situation.

“If the case count begins to climb in one area, the restriction will need to be imposed to prevent local medical facilities from becoming overwhelmed,” Wolf said.

Beaver County became the sole county in the southwest region that was not moved into the yellow phase. The county has a nursing home facility that has struggled with cases and deaths attributed to COVID-19.

State Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said state officials are aware and trying to help the nursing home recover.

“The situation at that nursing home has been very challenging,” she said. “We're doing everything we can to help the patients and the staff at that facility.”

Looking for clarity

While county residents may be breathing sighs of relief, there appeared to be some confusion Thursday night and Friday morning following Wolf's extension of the stay-at-home order for red-phased counties.

In a Facebook post Friday morning, state Sen. Joe Pittman, R-41st, wanted to set his constituents' minds at ease.

Pittman said he received a phone call Thursday night from the governor's office giving him embargoed information that the counties in his coverage area would be included in those moving to yellow May 15. Two hours later, he saw a news release in his email inbox informing the public of the extended stay-at-home orders to red counties, at which point his counties were.

“I thought it was very disingenuous to have our communities reacting the way they were under this disinformation,” Pittman said.

Pittman said Wolf's administration has operated in this fashion before, changing dates without context in a news conference or making last minute decisions without explanation. He referenced when school districts were closed. Initially the decision was left to the superintendents to decide, but less than a day later, Wolf announced the closures as a state decision.

“Five hours later, as kids were getting on the school bus, the governor drops that press release,” Pittman said. “It is just all over the map.”

Pittman said the administration needs to do better in communicating with legislators and the public. Pittman was one of three state senators that submitted a letter Thursday in support of a lawsuit involving Butler County and four other counties against the Wolf administration.

“One way or another, we will get through this,” Pittman said.

State Rep. Marci Mustello, R-11th, was listed as a plaintiff on the lawsuit involving Butler County.

“Instead of Gov. Wolf trying to find ways to say no, he has finally devised an avenue to say yes,” Mustello said. “The governor has heard your voices and finally reacted to safely reopen Butler County.”