Tensions grow over when the Philadelphia region can safely reopen; health officials warn protesters they could become sick in crowds

The tensions over whether and when America can safely reopen accelerated in the Philadelphia region Saturday, with health authorities warning that people planning to join a Harrisburg back-to-work rally could be sickened by the coronavirus.

That Monday protest would follow shouting, sign-waving demonstrations in Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, Michigan, and elsewhere, driven by the frustration of the isolated and unemployed, and encouraged amid the worldwide pandemic by President Donald Trump, who has tweeted out “LIBERATE MICHIGAN!” and “LIBERATE MINNESOTA!”

On Saturday, the mounting sense of grievance was counterpointed by announced increases in infections across the country and in the region, where Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey authorities reported scores of new deaths. In University City, three refrigerated trailers were parked to handle an overflow of bodies.

“In the United States and in Pennsylvania, people have the right to protest, but I have significant concerns depending on how that happens,” Health Secretary Rachel Levine warned. “If people do not practice social distancing, … that could facilitate the spread and I would actually worry very much about the health of those people.”

The group Pennsylvanians Against Excessive Quarantine insisted on its website that elected leaders “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!”

In New Jersey, where the organizer of a Trenton rally was criminally charged for violating stay-at-home requirements, Gov. Phil Murphy rebuked calls to reopen the Garden State. To do so now, he said Saturday, would leave state leaders with “blood on our hands.”

“Anyone who thinks we’re doing this to take away people’s rights isn’t looking at the data we’re looking at,” Murphy said. “We’re doing this to save people’s lives. … The minute we think we can begin to tweak this and open things up based on science and data and facts, we will do that.”

Dozens of New Jersey residents were cited this weekend for violating the stay-at-home order, including a man who was rescued while kitesurfing in Toms River.

Geoffrey Vonderlinden, 51, of Basking Ridge, Somerset County, was charged after police answered a report of a kitesurfer in distress off of Normandy Beach, authorities said. He was “drifting northbound in the water, with strong winds and current,” officials said, but rescue crews and another surfer managed to return him to shore.

Across the United States, more than 732,000 people have tested positive for the virus, and nearly 39,000 have died, according to Johns Hopkins University.

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Everywhere, people longed for some semblance of normality. The ability to wander a shopping mall or flop into a movie-theater seat, or even to safely shop for groceries, never seemed so dear.

Each new unemployment report arrives more depressing than the last. Moods were as gray as the weather. And the only humor was gallows, like that tweeted by cookbook author Gabi Moskowitz: "Goodnight moon. Goodnight Zoom. Goodnight unshakeable sense of impending doom.”

Montgomery County officials reported 201 new coronavirus cases Saturday — the most announced in a single day, and nearly double the 111 announced Friday. And the Pennsylvania National Guard is sending 18 military nurses and medics amid staffing shortages at the Broomall Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Marple Township, Delaware County.

Still, with schools closed and plans squelched, the Upper Darby School District announced hoped-for, tentative dates for in-person graduation ceremonies this summer. That’s if social-distancing guidelines are lifted. Along with a virtual ceremony June 9, the district hopes to gather grads at the Tower Theater on either July 21 or Aug. 5.

“Our seniors deserve it,” said district spokesperson Aaronda Beauford. But “we are operating in a situation with a lot of unknowns.”

Gov. Tom Wolf announced a broad plan to eventually reopen Pennsylvania’s economy, and Levine said on Saturday, without adding details, that those decisions would be made based on internal modeling.

As protesters prepared to gather in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania officials readied to open a new, drive-thru testing site at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes-Barre on Monday. It will serve health-care workers, first responders, and people over 65 who have symptoms. Rite Aid announced it would open two new testing sites in York and Pittsburgh, and a third on Monday in Barrington, Camden County.

Pennsylvania formally opened a website to accept unemployment claims from self-employed, independent, and gig workers on Saturday — it immediately glitched and faltered.

“Due to the demand on a new system, we know that it will not be perfect and is slow at this time,” said Penny Ickes, a spokesperson for the state Department of Labor & Industry. “We expect tens of thousands of people to apply, so we are asking for patience.”

That commodity was running short.

In Florida, people rushed onto reopened beaches in Jacksonville. Few wore masks. With New Jersey’s multibillion-dollar tourism industry similarly threatened, Shore homeowners, renters and real-estate brokers could only wait and worry as beach closures edged toward summer.

Typically, Mary Arabia-Galgon now would be driving along Route 55 to open her Wildwood duplex and collect final payments from families who rent for the summer. Now she’s stuck in her Bensalem home, watching the days tick by.

“I’m just holding my breath,” said Arabia-Galgon, 54.

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Gov. Murphy spoke as New Jersey recorded 3,026 new COVID-19 cases, for a total of 81,420, and 231 more deaths, the sum now 4,070.

Pennsylvania officials reported 1,628 new cases of the coronavirus Saturday, for a total of 31,069. So far 836 people have died.

The state tallies for individual counties often conflict with each county’s own totals — in Philadelphia, officials have reported more than twice the 136 coronavirus-related deaths in the state count.

Health Secretary Levine said officials are working with counties to correct data discrepancies, but she did not provide reasons for the differences.

Philadelphia has so far reported 343 deaths, including 45 on Saturday. That means the city has announced 121 deaths in just the last three days, a third of all its fatalities. Half have been residents of long-term care facilities.

Calls continued to pour into the Philadelphia coronavirus hotline, topping 15,000 since it launched a month ago. Some callers have COVID-19 symptoms, while others simply want information, said Jeanette Trella, managing director of the Poison Control Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

The helpline is always open at 1-800-722-7112.

City officials confirmed they bought three refrigerated trailers to increase the storage capacity of the Medical Examiner’s Office. The trailers are parked close to where the office conducts autopsies, near the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

Deana Gamble, a spokesperson for Mayor Jim Kenney, said the trailers aren’t exclusively for COVID-19 fatalities, but to “relieve general overcrowding due to lack of funeral-home capacity.”

It’s taking longer for families to make memorial arrangements during the pandemic, she noted.

Each trailer can hold up to 40 remains. Gamble declined to say how many are there now.

Contributing to this article were staff writers Ellie Rushing, Andrew Seidman, Maddie Hanna, and Jason Nark.