Legislators ask DOH to release detailed information on COVID-19 cases

WILKES-BARRE — Local state legislators would like the Department of Health to release specific information on where COVID-19 cases are located to allow for better planning and response.

State Rep. Tarah Toohil, R-Butler Township, said she sees the need for more information on a daily basis.

“We are in need of more specific numbers so that we can identify ‘hot spots’ and our hospitals and communities can prepare for a surge in patients.,” Toohil said. “We are looking at our own numbers with Mayor Cusat and we fear that Hazleton City is a hot spot with higher rates of positive cases and that our community is going to be severely negatively impacted.”

Toohil said preparations are being made for another level of response in the case that the rapid rate of increased cases continues.

Sen. John Yudichak, I-Swoyersville, said he will continue to press DOH and the Wolf Administration for more information. Last week, Yudichak a]]sent a letter to Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine requesting that at the very least, they provide this information to county EMA’s.

In the letter, Yudichak said getting more detailed information would guarantee the safety of first responders.

“Knowing the location of someone with COVID-19 will help to protect first responders and allow them to take the necessary precautions if they must respond to an emergency at an address with a confirmed case of COVID-19,” Yudichak wrote. “It would also alert local healthcare facilities if a confirmed case is being transported to their facility.”

Yudichak also said knowing the location of a confirmed case/cases would give EM As the ability to monitor where possible clusters may be forming.

Sen. Lisa Baker said her colleague, Sen. Kim Ward, recently said she will be introducing legislation requiring the Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH) to notify county commissioners or their designated county emergency management coordinator of the municipality in which there is any confirmed communicable disease cases, such as COVID-19.

Law said the Disease Prevention and Control Law of 1955 places primary responsibility for the prevention and control of communicable diseases with local departments of health and with the Pennsylvania Department of Health for those municipalities without their own. She said the Act also prohibits both state and local health departments from disclosing reports or records of diseases outside of the health departments except when necessary for them to carry out disease prevention and control under the law.

“The law is outdated and needs to be changed, which is why I co-sponsored legislation being advanced by Sen. Ward and Sen. Doug Mastriano,” Baker said.

Law said any lack of more specific location of COVID-19 cases creates a huge obstacle to county emergency management agencies who are coordinating aspects of the local response to the pandemic.

“Knowing only the county of COVID-19 cases falls far short in helping plan for and divert vital and sparse medical resources to where they may be needed most within a county,” Law said.

Sen. Doug Mastriano said he intends to introduce legislation to update the state’s Disease Prevention and Control Law of 1955, in an effort to enhance transparency.

“My legislation will enable the Health Department to release more information that is currently considered private during health epidemics,” he said.

State Rep. Mike Carroll, D-Avoca, said, “At this time, I support the Department of Health’s policy to provide county-wide case counts. In my view, the release of community specific data may give people a false sense of security thereby reducing the urgency to shelter in place. We need everyone to do their part to minimize tragic outcomes.”