A rally took place outside Pennsylvania's capitol building in Harrisburg on Monday to protest statewide lockdown policies implemented in response to the coronavirus outbreak.
In its social media description, Pennsylvanians Against Excessive Quarantine asked members to email reopening requests to Governor Tom Wolf through a submission forum at ReOpenPA.com, a webpage associated with the state's Firearms Association. The group's administrators are siblings Ben, Christopher and Matthew Dorr, who are directors and board members of several gun rights coalitions across the Midwest.
"It's time to OPEN UP PENNSYLVANIA and STOP Gov Wolf's Excessive Quarantine!" Pennsylvanians Against Excessive Quarantine wrote on Facebook."Politicians are on a power trip, controlling our lives, destroying our businesses, passing laws behind the cover of darkness and forcing us to hand over our freedoms and our livelihood! ENOUGH!"NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images
Pennsylvania has confirmed 33,232 cases and 1,204 deaths from the new coronavirus, according to the Department of Health's most recent update Monday afternoon. It has now reported the fourth-highest incidence of the virus in the United States, behind New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts, surpassing Michigan, California and Louisiana's numbers in less than two weeks.
Coronavirus case counts in Pennsylvania have risen dramatically since the beginning of the month, prompting Governor Wolf to extend Pennsylvania's lockdown order mandating nonessential business closures and social gathering restrictions through at least April 30.
"For weeks, my administration has been at work on a plan to reopen Pennsylvania, and we're going to make sure we have a plan that respects the reality of the situation on the ground and works with our local, regional and federal partners," said Wolf in a statement Friday."All of us are anxious to reopen the commonwealth. As a former business owner, I deeply share the concerns of some in the legislature, but we cannot exacerbate the pandemic's damage on Pennsylvania.
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