As coronavirus cases rise, Luzerne County Manager C. David Pedri said he will be reaching out to hospitals and other medical providers to make sure their needs are addressed.
“We have to make sure the medical community is OK with personal protective equipment and be there to assist as needed,” Pedri said.
Contacts with medical providers and other groups impacted by the pandemic were cemented earlier this year with the county’s formation of a coronavirus task force, he said.
The number of county residents hospitalized and on ventilators due to coronavirus rose again last week, according to the state’s early warning dashboard.
An average 71.3 county residents were hospitalized for coronavirus daily last week, compared to 62.4 two weeks ago and 6.6 the first week of October.
Of those hospitalized, an average 8.1 county residents were on ventilators each day last week, or 2.4 more than the prior week’s 5.7, the dashboard said.
New confirmed coronavirus cases and positive test rates also markedly increased in the county over the two-week period.
Pedri also said he will continue working with the state health department to ensure testing demands are met, as he did earlier in the pandemic when the department had agreed to set up a testing site outside the Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes-Barre Township.
Support also must be provided to nursing homes and assisted living facilities, which were hit hard in the last pandemic, he said.
“We can’t lose sight of what happened in nursing homes and assist them where we could if they need help,” Pedri said.
After issuing several public pleas for citizens to follow prevention protocols in recent weeks, Pedri said he remains hopeful county residents will comply.
”I still believe that we can get this under control if we all take this thing seriously,” Pedri said.
Pedri said he is complying with all state directives in the county buildings under his control, including assigning employees to work remotely where possible, mandating masks and social distancing for visitors to county buildings and limiting occupancy.
“We moved a lot of our services to online or mail,” he added.
Pedri said the county does not have legal authority to enact and enforce general countywide pandemic restrictions outside those related to county buildings and services. Some municipalities had opted to impose curfews and other limitations earlier in the pandemic for those within their borders.