Erie County Department of Health reminds restaurants to complete self-certification process by Oct. 5
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 28, 2020
MEDIA CONTACT:
Melissa J. Dixon
mdixon@eriecountypa.gov
814-812-0089
Erie, PA – Erie County Department of Health officials remind restaurants to complete the Pennsylvania Self-Certification process prior to the deadline of Oct. 5.
As announced by Governor Tom Wolf in early September, restaurants are able to increase indoor seating capacity to 50% as of Sept. 21 if they complete the self-certification process by Oct. 5.
The process is free for business owners and does not require any information that wouldn’t be listed in a phonebook or on a Facebook page.
By completing the self-certification process, businesses are listed on the “Open and Certified Pennsylvania” database. This database allows customers to see who has agreed to the health and safety requirements for restaurants as they continue to be a vital piece in the prevention of COVID-19 transmission.
As of Monday, Sept. 28, only 108 restaurants have completed this process. Erie County Department of Health licenses nearly 1,500 retail food facilities.
If a food facility chooses to not complete the self-certification process, the indoor capacity will be required to remain at 25% of the stated fire capacity.
After Oct. 5, if a restaurant is operating between 25% and 50% indoor capacity and has not self-certified, the restaurant will be subject to penalties. Information regarding violations will be shared with the Departments of State, Labor & Industry, and Health, and other enforcement agencies.
However, restaurants may still self-certify after Oct. 5 if they would like to increase indoor capacity to 50%.
Regardless of self-certification status, all sales of alcohol for on-premise consumption must now cease at 11 p.m.
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