By Dennis Davin
The COVID-19 pandemic has been unlike anything we’ve experienced in the past century. Since last March, when Governor Wolf issued an emergency disaster declaration, the Wolf administration has made it a top priority to protect both the health and safety of Pennsylvanians, while balancing the needs of our communities and the livelihoods of business owners.
We often see disaster declarations during hurricanes, severe storms, and other natural disasters — even very specific disasters with severe, targeted impacts, like the sinkhole that destroyed homes and properties in Harrisburg in 2016. More recently, the disaster declaration was an extremely effective tool for responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, which had widespread effects across the commonwealth.