Volume 111, Issue 181Home delivery: 866-492-1514Newstips@couriertimes.com

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BUCKS COUNTY

Business ...................... B3Classified ................ C5-6Comics ...................... C8

Dear Abby ...................C7Obituaries .................. A6Puzzles ...................... C6

FRIDAY

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THURSDAY

Partly sunny92° / 69°

TODAY

Mostly sunny91° / 68°

L O C A L | A 3

HURRIED LESSON PLANVirus spread tells us schools should not reopen this soon. So what’s the rush?

S P O R T S | C 1

FOOTBALL FOLLY There’s a greater chance for this coming NFL season to be derailed than there is for it to be completed

By Chris UlleryThe Intelligencer

Pennsylvania on Tuesday reported one of the state’s largest single-day increases of COVID-19 in recent weeks, led by a surge of new cases in Philadelphia.

The Department of Health reported 1,120 new COVID-19

cases Tuesday, one of the few days in almost two months that new cases have topped 1,000.

At the same time, new cases in Allegheny County seem to be leveling off, putting the southeastern region ahead again with the highest number new cases of the virus.

The southeastern region of the state, which includes

COVID-19 in southeastern Pa. climbs

Kiva A. Fisher-Green, right, talks with fellow social worker Tyree R. Ford outside the Alma Illery Medical Center in Pittsburgh. In March and April when Philadelphia and its surroundings became one of the nation’s hot spots for COVID-19 cases, Pittsburgh seemed at the time to be under more control; the city racked up a fraction of the coronavirus cases as compared to the other side of Pennsylvania. But by the beginning of July, officials in Pittsburgh’s Allegheny County began a cascading shutdown of bars, restaurants and gatherings due to an alarming spike in COVID-19 cases. This week, however, cases in Allegheny County appear to be on the decline as those in Philadelphia rise. [GENE J. PUSKAR / AP]

By Marion CallahanBucks County Courier Times

Residents are already occupying several apart-m e n t s i n N e w B r i t a i n

B o r o u g h ’ s U n i v e r s i t y Village, and a locally owned organic grocery store, hair salon, co-working space and cafe are on the way.

O r g a n n o n s N a t u r a l M a r k e t , w h i c h h a s a Wrightstown location, will fill 7,000 square feet in the seven-acre University V i l l a g e , a 1 4 7 - a p a r t -ment residential and retail

community at the heart of the borough’s revitalization effort near Delaware Valley University. The develop-ment, which connects to the region’s trail system, is at the former location of the Knoell woodworking factory on Butler Avenue.

The store’s owner, Jim Gannon, is planning a fall opening.

New Britain development opens for residents; grocery store, salon, cafe on the way

University Village in New Britain Borough is now accepting residents. Retail tenants, including Organnons Natural Market, will open soon. [PHOTOS BY MARION CALLAHAN/STAFF PHOTOJOURNALIST]

Jim Gannon, owner of Organnons Natural Market in Wrightstown, overlooks construction at his 7,000-square-foot market being built at University Village in New Britain Borough.

By Marion CallahanBucks County Courier Times

Keeping students six feet apart was never a requirement for schools to achieve in order to reopen, although many have set that as a benchmark, national, state and local health offi-cials said.

Instead, maintaining a distance of at least six feet “when feasible” is the recommendation.

But what does “when feasible” mean?

“We are saying six feet when fea-sible, knowing that it may not be for all schools, and that is why masking and other requirements are in place,“ Pennsylvania Department of Health spokesman Nate Wardle said after this news organization pressed the state for clarification on its guidelines.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday said “when feasible” recognizes “that in a full, in-person classroom, maintaining a distance of six feet between students will be a challenge.”

Such ambiguity has heightened frus-trations as school districts roll out their reopening plans. Some school leaders have taken aim at the Bucks County Health Department, which identified a minimum of three feet in its guide-lines to schools based on World Health Organization guidance.

But three feet has never been the county’s recommendation or aim, Bucks County’s health director Dr. David Damsker said. “It’s the mini-mum, not the target.”

“We have repeatedly said that we

3 feet vs. 6 feet: Back-to-school guidelines allow for flexibility

Southwest Pa. sees drop

University Village rising

Residents are already occupying several apartments in New Britain Borough’s University Village.

See CLIMBS, A2

See SCHOOL, A2