Wolf extends stay-at-home order for red zones to June 4, will reveal next yellow-phase areas Friday

Gov. Tom Wolf on Thursday night extended Pennsylvania’s stay-at-home order through June 4 for all counties deemed red zones, although which counties remain under that designation could change Friday.

As of Thursday night, all of Southwestern Pennsylvania remains a red zone, where the strictest restrictions on people and businesses remain in effect in the attempt to thwart the spread of covid-19.

On Friday, Wolf plans to make an announcement about the next areas of the state that will move to the yellow phase of the state’s three-tiered reopening plan.

“We’re looking at a whole bunch of models,” Wolf said during a news conference earlier Thursday. “We’re looking basically to see where we’re flattening the curve of new cases.”

The governor said Friday’s update will identify “additional counties moving to the yellow phase at a to-be-determined date.”

Wolf’s initial statewide stay-at-home order was put in place April 1 and set to expire at midnight.

Wolf’s office did not immediately return a comment late Thursday seeking clarification on whether the next round of places to move to the yellow zone will do so prior to June 4.

Twenty-four counties in Pennsylvania will see an easing of coronavirus-related restrictions — including the suspensions of stay-at-home and reopening of some businesses — when they move to the yellow phase Friday morning, as announced by Wolf last week.

Allegheny County officials and others across Southwestern Pennsylvania have been pushing the state to include them in the next round of openings.

A number of lawmakers in the state’s Southwest region cried foul last week after the counties in the Northwest and North-Central part of the state were given the go-ahead to begin moving into the yellow phase.

RELATED: Elected officials and businesses in 4 counties sue to end coronavirus shutdown

“Ultimately, I’m going to be driven and … all of us need to be driven by what’s best for the people in the region, not what’s expedient,” Wolf said in a call with reporters this week.

Pennsylvania’s coronavirus death toll hit 3,416 Thursday. Allegheny County reported 45 new cases and six additional deaths, bringing its totals to 1,439 cases and 117 deaths.

The first set of 24 counties set to move to the yellow phase include: Bradford, Cameron, Centre, Clarion, Clearfield, Clinton, Crawford, Elk, Erie, Forest, Jefferson, Lawrence, Lycoming, McKean, Mercer, Montour, Northumberland, Potter, Snyder, Sullivan, Tioga, Union, Venango and Warren.

The Wolf administration also has posted resources to help individuals and businesses understand what operating in the yellow zone means:

Guidance for businesses can be found here.

FAQs for businesses in each phase can be found here.

CDC guidance on child care that reopens under the yellow phase is available here.