Editorial: Following rules the key to lifting lockdown

Everyone couldn’t wait to get to yellow.

It has been weeks since Gov. Tom Wolf announced a color-coded path from a full coronavirus lockdown to a more moderate restriction. On May 1, he signaled the first rope to drop with northwest and north-central counties enjoying the slightly relaxed rules of yellow after the tight tension of red.

The major outbreaks in Pennsylvania are in the east, where the state butts up against the more concentrated populations and infections of New York and New Jersey. It made sense those areas would have to wait. But in Southwestern Pennsylvania, there was confusion in areas that had low numbers and slow spread.

And confusion gave way to frustration. County commissioners protested. Residents bristled. And ultimately, they got the news they wanted.

On Friday, Wolf announced a new round of rollbacks. Southwestern counties — with the notable exception of Beaver County and its high number of nursing home cases — will move to the yellow step May 15.

Now everyone has to prove they can handle it.

Other states have had problems with that. Open a beach and watch it get swarmed. Open a park and see people flouting the requirements to wear masks. When Florida pulled back on the lockdown, 652 violations were issued in Miami Beach alone and another 145 people were removed from parks there, according to the Associated Press.

Let’s not be Florida, OK?

It is important for jobs, economy, sanity and — this can’t be emphasized enough — health to not act like petulant children intent on stretching or breaking the rules just to show they can. The last thing the area needs is to get grounded again.

“Residents should be mindful that yellow still means caution,” Wolf said.

It’s also the key link between red and green. If counties can’t show their ability to transition safely and responsibly to yellow, it could set back any progress that has been achieved by the lockdown so far and threaten an ability to move forward.

And it’s up to individuals to regulate that themselves — because Wolf’s enforcement is largely toothless.

Following the rules is the next step along the way to protection, like coughing in your elbow, wearing a mask and washing your hands. It’s something everyone can do to make the system work for themselves and each other.

Because now that counties are moving to yellow, we’re going to be itching to get to green.