Westmoreland Co. issues COVID-19 disaster proclamation

Westmoreland County commissioners have issued a disaster proclamation to deal with the new virus that causes the COVID-19 disease.

Roland “Bud” Mertz, director of the county’s Department of Public Safety, said Saturday that the measure was preventive and not in response to any cases. He said he was not aware of any positive or presumptive positive tests for COVID-19 in the county.

The proclamation — unprecedented for Westmoreland County in dealing with a public health crisis — was delivered by the county’s three commissioners and is expected to aid government in various ways.

It will “loosen up the policies, procedures, rules and laws that would get in the way of any emergent [preventive] health measures to take place,” Mr. Mertz said.

“If we find there’s an emergency, and I would have to make emergency purchases or make emergency contracts, that gives us the right to do that outside the restrictive laws for the day-to-day operations.”

Mr. Mertz said the county has not made any emergency purchases or entered into any such contracts.

“We’re making lot of personnel changes and stuff like that at the county government level to ensure that we have the continuity of government, continuity of operations,” he said. “This is a very fluid situation, and it changes minute by minute. The emergency declaration allows for changes as it goes on.”

The proclamation will be re-evaluated on a weekly basis, according to Mr. Mertz.

The county has created a COVID-19 committee comprising government officials and leaders in public health, business and education. They include: Carol Fox, chief medical officer at Excela Health; Chad Armond, president and CEO of the Westmoreland County Chamber of Commerce; and Jason A. Conway, executive director of the Westmoreland Intermediate Unit.

Asked if the public health system in Westmoreland County was prepared for a possible onslaught of COVID-19 cases, Mr. Mertz said, “I can’t give you a state of the readiness for Westmoreland County aside from the fact that the engagement’s there and everybody’s doing everything they possibly can to eliminate barriers to protect the public.”

He said officials were monitoring hot spots around the world and reminded people to employ personal hygiene techniques such as hand-washing and to maintain social distancing.

“The last pandemic that we’ve truly seen in Pennsylvania was way back in 1918. The whole world’s changed since then. This is uncharted water for everybody in the world. … What we’re doing is trying to be ahead of the curve, so to speak, to reduce the public spread,” Mr. Mertz said.

“I just need to say to the public that this is not a time to panic. This is a time to be aware and be prepared. And when I say be aware, I urge the public for their updates that they be aware through authoritative outlets like the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] and the Pennsylvania Department of Health and not get sucked into the nonauthoritative statements that are out there.”