PHOTO: OFFICE OF GOV. TOM WOLF

The holiday season will end on Monday, and so will the state’s most stringent pandemic restrictions.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf announced Wednesday that a three-week period of restrictions aimed at slowing the spread of COVID-19 will be allowed to expire as scheduled at 8 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 4.

The decision will allow the resumption of indoor dining at bars, restaurants, breweries, distilleries, social clubs and private catered events. Indoor dining will still be limited to 50% of capacity.

It will also allow gyms and fitness centers to reopen at 50% capacity and high school sports to resume. All in-person businesses in the entertainment industry, including theaters, concert venues, museums, movie theaters, arcades, casinos, bowling alleys, private clubs, and similar entertainment, recreational or social facilities will be allowed to reopen at 50% capacity. All other in-person businesses may operate at 75% occupancy.

Wolf credited the three-week shutdown for helping to lower the state’s virus positivity rate for the past two weeks in a row.

“Our mitigation efforts over the past several weeks are working, and I thank everyone who abided by the restrictions put in place to protect us,” Wolf said. “Every time we make a small decision to avoid risk – or take steps to make our actions a little bit less risky – we are helping to stop the spread of COVID-19 and save lives.”

However, he warned that the state was far from being “out of the woods” and that mandates such as mask-wearing and indoor and outdoor gathering limits will remain in place for the foreseeable future.