Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration will reduce the six-foot rule for students in many schools to three feet and lessen the length of time schools must close after COVID-19 outbreaks, all as the state prepares for a rollback of pandemic rules amid contrasting signs of a "fourth surge."

The shift in school guidance mirrors updates from the CDC and takes effect April 5, all as more Pennsylvania schools eye a return to in-person classes. 
 
But the state is preparing to undertake a much broader rollback of COVID-19 rules on April 4, easing restrictions on indoor dining, gyms, movie theaters, and more against a backdrop of spiking case numbers and dire new federal warnings.

THE CONTEXT: Case numbers are rising in states nationwide, and Pennsylvania is no exception. WITF reports Pennsylvania's daily case average was up 53% last week from the beginning of the month. Hospitalizations were up, too, though officials note we're below December peaks on both fronts. 

Still, statements from the nation's top doctors this week included warnings about wrong-way case trends — even as vaccination rates move in the right direction — and against reopening too quickly or completely. The CDC's chief, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, described a sense of "impending doom."

Pennsylvania is not reopening completely, but on April 4 restaurants, gyms, and movie theaters will be allowed to raise their capacity to 75% — the highest level since the pandemic began. Meanwhile, the state's vaccine rollout is still proving a mixed bag, with deadlines for open eligibility fast approaching and restaurant workers still not an eligible priority group despite being days from entering the most crowded dining rooms they've seen in a year.

Acting Health Secretary Alison Beam says the state is watching the case numbers closely but still pushing ahead with the rollback plan and a separate plan to grow the eligible vaccine pool.

Track COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations with Spotlight PA's county-by-county map.

STRESS TEST: An anti-gentrification group in West Philadelphia wants fecal samples — yes, you read that right — from residents living near a new construction project. The goal? To determine if that development adversely affects their health and risk for colorectal cancer. A lawyer representing the developer told The Inquirer, “I was speechless."

PICTURE THIS: Artist Ron Donoughe spent 2019 painting life along the Monongahela River, from Brownsville to Braddock, completing 60 plein air works that can be found in a new book. Donoughe told Pittsburgh Current: “There’s a lot of natural beauty and industrial landscape to document. It’s really my mission: to document Western Pennsylvania."

'WHITEWASHING': The products of industrialist Andrew Carnegie's philanthropy are still visible across Pennsylvania 100 years after his death. The motives behind that philanthropy are less obvious. On April 18, the United Steelworkers union will host a virtual discussion attempting to reconcile two Carnegies: The philanthropist and the shrewd, union-busting capitalist.

SNOW DAY: April Fool's snow may not be a joke for some Pennsylvanians tomorrow. The Weather Channel says a sweeping cold front is on its way and likely to bring light accumulations to the commonwealth, with bigger totals expected in central New York and beyond. Somewhere, Punxsutawney Phil is smiling smugly. 

FIVE, SEVEN, FIVE: Submit a haiku. About Pennsylvania parks. Win at poetry. (Or you can send it to us and we'll feature it here.)