Scranton Reporter

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania Western District issued the following announcement on April 1.

PER CURIAM

AND NOW, this 1st day of April, 2020, pursuant to Rule of Judicial Administration 1952(A) and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court's constitutionally-conferred general supervisory and administrative authority over all courts and magisterial district judges, see PA. CONST. art. V, §10(a), this Court DIRECTS that the general, statewide judicial emergency declared in this Courts Order of March 16, 2020, is EXTENDED through April 30, 2020, and all Pennsylvania courts SHALL REMAIN generally CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC through April 30, 2020, subject to the General and Specific Directives and Exceptions set forth in this Court's Order of March 18, 2020, as modified and supplemented herein. The Court further explains and DIRECTS as follows: On March 16, 2020, in light of the spread of the COVID-19 virus, this Court deemed it necessary to declare a general, statewide judicial emergency to enable the Pennsylvania Judiciary to consider -- on a district-by-district basis -- the appropriate measures to be taken to safeguard the health and safety of court personnel, court users, and members of the public. Via separate Order, President Judges of the intermediate appellate courts were afforded authority to implement emergency measures as well. On March 18, 2020, at the behest of Pennsylvania's Secretary of Health, the Court issued an order directing that all Pennsylvania courts are generally closed to the public through at least April 3, 2020, subject to certain General and Specific Directives and Exceptions designed, inter alia, to ensure the continuation of the courts' essential functions consistent with public health guidance provided by the executive branch. On March 24, 2020, the Court issued a Supplemental Order expanding the non-exclusive list of essential functions to include commencement of a civil action, by praecipe for a writ of summons, for purposes of tolling a statute of limitations. Yesterday afternoon, the Secretary of Health urged the Supreme Court to extend the statewide closure of the courts, except for essential services, for a period of approximately one additional month to further restrict the amount of person-to-person contact and mitigate the spread of COVID-19. 

Original source can be found here.