During the 45-minute time span of a recent virtual news conference hosted by the Bucks County Commissioners, chairwoman Diane Ellis-Marseglia received two text messages from friends informing her of their positive COVID-19 test results.
“It’s still out there,” she said. “We’re making progress, but there are still people at risk.”
Ellis-Marseglia was joined by fellow Commissioners Bob Harvie and Gene DiGirolamo as well as Health Director Dr. David Damsker and Emergency Services Director Scott T. Forster to discuss the pandemic’s impact on Bucks County, steps the local government is taking to slow the spread and, eventually, reopen the economy.
The first step toward “normalcy” was the reopening of Bucks County parks on Monday, April 20. Park rangers are on hand to enforce social distancing and prevent the congregation of large groups. Ellis-Marseglia urged residents to limit their park usage.
“If you happen to live in a neighborhood where you can walk, or near a shopping center where you can walk, or you have a yard, maybe give that park space to people who are living in apartments and condos and whatnot, who really don’t have access to getting out,” she said. “Let them have first dibs.”
Despite seeing a slight plateau in the number of local COVID-19 cases, Harvie stressed that Bucks County isn’t out of the woods just yet.
“This is a sporting event, and we’re only probably at halftime right now. This is not the end of the game, this is not the two-minute warning before the gun goes off,” he said.
At the time this story went to print, Bucks County’s total cases numbered 2,067. Of those, 169 were hospitalized, 26 in critical condition, and 467 recovered. There have been 110 COVID-19-related deaths, with almost half of these individuals residents at nursing homes and long-term care facilities.
“These are the most fragile patients that you can have in our entire society,” Damsker said. “I don’t want people to be scared. I don’t want people to say, ‘Oh my God, there’s been five additional deaths today.’ I want them to realize that while we feel horribly for those families, if you look at it from a 30,000-foot view, these deaths are not occurring in the general public for the most part, and that’s a good, positive sign that people are not getting infected from being out in public for the most part.”
Damsker said he and Forster are in close contact with each of the 30 long-term care facilities in Bucks County, and have issued guidance and personal protective equipment to help protect residents and staff alike. If a resident tests positive for COVID-19, they’re moved to a separate, isolated wing. To date, none of these facilities have been evacuated because of an outbreak.
“We believe that moving the patients out of those facilities into an area where maybe they won’t get as good of care, and maybe there’s not a staff-to-patient ratio, and not being in a normal care facility may be even more detrimental to them,” Damsker said. “Moving people is the last resort.”
According to Forster, Bucks County hospitals have enough beds and ventilators to handle the number of COVID-19 cases in the community. Additional space at the Newtown Athletic Center is ready to accept patients, but is not needed at the moment.
Regarding steps to begin reopening non-essential businesses, there is no firm date on when this will happen, though Harvie said the commissioners are in daily contact with leadership from Philadelphia and surrounding counties to develop a plan.
In order for Gov. Tom Wolf’s stay-at-home mandate to be eased, Damsker said several things need to happen – more testing and a “smart reopening” that still requires masks worn in stores and limiting the number of customers allowed inside at one time.
“What we need to see is additional testing available so we can jump on cases very quickly. It was difficult to do this early on because our testing capability was so restricted. You had to have a fever and shortness of breath. We discovered very clearly in all our investigations that a lot of people don’t have a fever, ever. They don’t ever have shortness of breath. They have other symptoms,” he said. “So, now that we know more about the disease and what symptoms people have, we can get quicker testing and we can do better contact tracing and isolate those people.”
For anyone battling alcohol or drug addiction during the pandemic, DiGirolamo stressed that help is still available. Locals can call the Bucks County Drug & Alcohol Commission at 215-444-2700 to receive help. A social worker from the commission will ask several questions, including how they intend to pay for treatment.
“If you do not have insurance and you cannot afford to pay for it yourself, then that’s where the commission jumps in and helps you, whether it’s trying to find out whether you qualify for Medicaid, or if you do not qualify, then there are funds available through the county,” DiGirolamo said. “The commission will hook you up with a treatment facility. At that point in time, they will assess you for what kind of treatment you need, whether it be inpatient or outpatient.”
Further information and guidance related to COVID-19 is available at BucksCounty.org.
Samantha Bambino can be reached at sbambino@newspapermediagroup.com
