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College Township to Rescind COVID-19 Ordinance on May 31

College Township Council voted on Thursday night to rescind the township’s temporary COVID-19 ordinance effective May 31, the same day most statewide mitigation orders will be lifted.

The ordinance, like three others in the Centre Region, was adopted last September for enforcement of masking, maximum gathering sizes and waiting lines.

“Council’s action comes after the recent announcement by [Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration] that most statewide COVID-19 mitigation orders would be lifted effective May 31 and the Center for Disease Control’s (CDC) revisions to their face masking guidance for fully vaccinated individuals,” Township Manager Adam Brumbaugh said in a statement. “In making their decision, Council also recognized the increasing percentage of vaccinated individuals within the community and the positive trends showing a decreasing rate of transmission of the virus locally.”

Periodically throughout the past nine months, the ordinance was amended and extended in response to changing conditions. The most recent version approved in April set the masking policy to align with Pennsylvania Department of Health orders, which on May 13 were updated to state fully vaccinated people no longer need to wear a mask in most circumstances indoors and outdoors and do not need to observe social distancing.

College Township’s ordinance also set limits on gatherings sizes — most recently a maximum of 25 people indoors and 100 outdoors at residences and municipal property — and required 6 feet distancing for waiting lines at businesses. For violations resulting in citations, fines ranged from $150 to $300, and in cases where an event host violated gathering limits, $1,000.

“College Township Council encourages community members to continue to be vigilant in their efforts to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus and to adhere to the Pennsylvania Department of Health’s order pertaining to the wearing of facemask,” Brumbaugh said.

The state and federal guidance does require masks to be worn in some circumstances, regardless of vaccination status. Those include in doctors’ offices, hospitals, long-term care facilities, homeless shelters and prisons and on airplanes, buses and other public transportation.

Local governments, businesses and organizations still can continue to enforce their own restrictions as they see fit.

Elsewhere in the Centre Region, State College updated its COVID-19 ordinance on Friday to align masking with Department of Health guidance. It also increased limits on indoor gatherings at residences from 25 to 50 and outdoor gatherings from 25 to 100. Gatherings on municipal property also increased to 100 and provisions for line waiting outside businesses were eliminated.

The borough’s ordinance is in effect until July 31 or until the Department of Health or Centre Region Council of Governments rescind their emergency orders.

Ferguson Township supervisors will vote during their June 7 meeting to amend the township’s ordinance to follow Department of Health guidelines on masking and double the limit on outdoor gathering sizes at residences and municipal property to 100.

Patton Township could soon rescind its ordinance. According to the agenda for the May 28 Board of Supervisors meeting, Township Manager Doug Erickson is recommending rescinding the ordinance, which currently limits indoor gatherings to 25 people at residences and 50 people on township property and outdoor residential and municipal gatherings to 100 people.

The Patton Township ordinance was updated in April to align masking with current DOH orders.

Following advertisement, supervisors could take action at their June 16 meeting to rescind the ordinance, or suspend enforcement actions and allow the ordinance to expire on July 31.