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Luzerne County leaders discussing plans to reopen sooner than scheduled

Luzerne County is currently in the red phase, which means it would reopen in early June. County leaders want to work with the Department of Health to reopen sooner.

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. — Luzerne County currently sits in the red phase, with 2,400 cases of the coronavirus.

That means the governor's stay-at-home order would stay in effect until at least June 4th.

Now, as the county works to flatten its curve, county leaders are talking about ways they might be able to reopen sooner than scheduled.

In an online council meeting, Luzerne County Manager David Pedri announced he wants to submit a plan to the Department of Health to reopen before June 4th.

"What we should be doing is partnering with the state to say, hey listen. Luzerne County has a case to open sooner than June 4th," Pedri said.

He acknowledges that Luzerne County has the eighth highest number of COVID-19 cases in the state.

He pointed out the county also has several testing sites, and having enough testing is one of the governor's benchmarks for reopening.

"We currently have five testing sites. The Mohegan Sun Arena, the Rite-Aid, the three health care providers. We have the testing sites available," Pedri said.

Pedri also says Luzerne County was also able to significantly flatten its curve. 

"We were looking at a potential death rate of one percent of the entire county, that's 3,000 people. Thank God that we're not there, but it's only because of the hard work of the citizens of Luzerne County who have stepped up to the plate," Pedri said.

If the county is allowed to reopen early, county leaders want to make sure businesses would be ready with enough cleaning supplies and masks.

Employees at Istanbul Grill are wearing masks and hand sanitizer is always nearby.

The place is open for pick-up and delivery, but owner Elif Kacar is skeptical about reopening for dining-in by early June.

"I'm not really sure I'll reopen. I want to make sure I stay safe. All customers are really important to me. I'm not really sure we'll reopen in June," Kacar said.

However, employees at Rodano's Pizza and Restaurant on Public Square feel a bit more comfortable.

The shutdown has really hurt business.

"We haven't had much business. There's been a little bit here and there. Definitely not to the extent we've had even on our slower days when we were open already," Mackenzie Gagliardi of Rodano's said. 

Also in downtown, Center City Repairs fixes cell phones, gaming consoles, and other electronics.

It has been closed for walk-ins because of the shutdown.

However, employees hope if Luzerne County is moved into the yellow phase, the business could safely reopen.

"A place like this where we can have people come in, we can move them out quickly, certainly I think we could probably do something so we can do more business in the area," Andrew Mesaris of Center City Repairs said.

On Tuesday night, Luzerne County District Attorney Stefanie Salavantis issued a statement saying her office will likely not prosecute small businesses for violating closure orders, especially those that follow social distancing practices.

"We recognize that the use of threatened imprisonment or fines on struggling businesses who practice social distancing, use personal protective equipment, and sanitation measures is tantamount to throwing a drowning victim an anchor," Salavantis said. "In cases that involve egregious violations that endanger others, prosecution may be necessary. However, it is difficult to imagine our community acting with such reckless disregard."

Luzerne County Manager David Pedri hopes to have a plan to reopen early submitted to the Department of Health by the end of this week or early next week.

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