Pennsylvania ends COVID-19 emergency declaration

Pennsylvania ended its COVID-19 emergency declaration on Tuesday after Gov. Tom Wolf’s (D) administration certified election results from May that took away his power to uphold it.

Pennsylvania voted in a May primary to take away some of Wolf’s authority over to his strict pandemic response, giving the decision to end the emergency declaration to the state’s legislature. 

The Republican-led House and Senate voted last week to end the governor’s emergency declaration. 

The declaration formally ended with the certification of the election results on Tuesday, acting Secretary of State Veronica Degraffenreid’s agency said, The Associated Press reported.

The state had already lifted many of its pandemic restrictions such as capacity limits on businesses.

Wolf has announced that more than 70 percent of Pennsylvania residents over the age of 18 have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine. 

Pennsylvania’s daily vaccine update:

11,244,192 vaccines administered
57.5% of PA’ians 18+ fully vaccinated
73.6% of PA’ians 18+ have received at least one dose
National ranking in first doses administered: 9

— Governor Tom Wolf (@GovernorTomWolf) June 15, 2021

Maryland and Massachusetts also announced on Tuesday that their emergency declarations will soon end.