Staying course stressed in town hall

Although Pennsylvania has done a relatively good job of getting a handle on the coronavirus pandemic, “we’re not out of the woods yet, by any stretch of the imagination.”

Those words were spoken Thursday morning by Benjamin Abella, who is an emergency room physician and vice chairman at the Department of Emergency Medicine at Penn Medicine.

He joined Jeanne Casner, director of Chester County Department of Health, on a telephone town hall about COVID-19 hosted by U.S. Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D6th Dist., which attracted more than 2,000 people.

“COVID is going to be with us through the fall and we have to be vigilant,” he said.

Abella said it will be at least three to six months before any kind of vaccine is ready for general use, and then the nation will face the logistical challenges of getting it manufactured and distributed as quickly as possible.

Houlahan said, as was seen with the production of personal protective equipment (better known as PPE) this spring, “a complex supply chain can be a problem. That’s why I want to be sure we have a roll-out plan for how it will be distributed” ready for when the vaccine has been finalized and manufacture begins.

Despite the economic, educational and social hardships it has caused, from a medical perspective, Pennsylvania’s strategy seems to be working, but only if it continues, Abella said.

“Pennsylvania has done a good job at tamping down the number of cases, but we have to keep wearing masks, the social distancing and the hand-washing,” Abella said.

“I know it’s hard. I know it’s annoying, especially when its raining or hot,” said Casner, “but the rest of us have to continue to be diligent.”

The effectiveness of this strategy is evident, said Abella, at the University of Pennsylvania hospital facilities where he works.

“We have had nearly no infections among the hospital staff, who are with infected patients every day, because we have really aggressive mask wearing, hand-washing, social distancing protocols in place,” he said.

By contrast, “the states that have not done this are really suffering,” said

Abella.

In fact, the outbreaks in the southern states have diverted supplies of personal protective equipment that the nation had hoped to stockpile for an expected uptick in cases in the fall as flu season gears up, said Houlahan.

Answering a question from a Kennett Square resident, Abella said it will be more important than ever to get a flu shot this year when they become available.

“We’re going to have a hard enough time figuring out if patients have a cold, the flu or COVID-19, so we have to stamp out as much of the flu as we can,” he said.

Particularly challenging for keeping coronavirus under control will be the reopening of schools, said Casner.

“We’ve been working with our school districts, advising them and helping them understand what safety looks like,” she said. “I’m confident our school districts are headed in the right direction.”

Tracking the spread of the virus will also be vital, said Casner. “Testing is crucial, but by itself not helpful. It has to lead to investigation first and foremost so we can break transmission of the virus.”

Using contact tracing to identify those who may have been exposed is a key factor. “The more people we have comply with self-quarantine, the more we’re going to break transmission,” said Casner.

An alarming turn in the data shows that while cases and deaths in older Pennsylvanians are flattening or going down, they are rising among the 25-to-39 age group, said Casner.

“And that seems to be because people are doing things like going to the beach and engaging in social interactions in a more high-risk setting, with many not wearing masks,” she said.

For example, said Casner, the data shows “an uptick after July 4th. You may have been to a barbecue, even if it was just family or a neighbor or two, it’s still an added risk.”

Also worrisome, said Casner, is that the health department is “getting some refusals” about information on prior contacts from those who have been infected or exposed.

She urged people to talk to family and friends about the importance of cooperating with contact tracing efforts.

“We can’t politicize science,” said Houlahan. “We’ve politicized something as simple as wearing a mask.”

Pennsylvania needs to “stay respectful and responsible to our fellow citizens, because that’s what will allow us to get back to normal more quickly,” said Houlahan.

“We’ve got to hold tight and hold strong.”

Houlahan also said she has proposed a bill to create a “National Public Health Corps to fill the personnel gap” and provide people to can help with testing, contact tracing and vaccine distribution.

Overall, the town hall attracted about 70 questions.

One of them, from a Sinking Spring resident who is also a CPA, noted that while the paycheck protection program “was great” and helped many of his clients, the paperwork involved is burdensome for small business owners.

He said the hoops through which small business owners have to jump in order to get the paycheck protection loan forgiven are more numerous than they should be.

Houlahan conceded the difficulty and said Congress is working to simplify the procedure and provide another stimulus relief package.