Executive Lamont McClure should be in a good mood today. If you work for the county, now might be a good time to hit him up for a raise. Last night, County Council voted 9-0 to approve what he calls his pandemic protection program. It's a three-pronged attack.
Expand Broadband Access
Northampton County Council approved $825,000 in grants for broadband access. $100,000 each will go to the school districts of Bethlehem, Easton, Bangor, Northampton and Nazareth. $50,000 each will go to the schools districts of Wilson, Saucon Valley and Pen Argyl. Northampton County Department of Human Services (DHS) will use $175,000 to purchase Wi-Fi annual vouchers and electronic equipment for underserved senior citizens and veterans within the county.
I believe each student is entitled to equal treatment and would have divided the grants in accord with the number of students in each district. I also wondered whether parochial and charter school students were being left out. Not so, said Kerry Myers , who at one time served on and presided over Easton Area School Board. He indicated the district will be required to assist all students who reside in the district.
I also had concerns about Northampton County students being served by Northern Lehigh and Catasauqua school districts. Executive Lamont McClure indicated they would be served as well.
McClure added that many seniors with limited incomes need internet access.
Drive-through testing site for COVID-19 at Lehigh Valley Hospital
Council approved $300,000 for a drive-through COVID-19 testing site for Northampton County residents displaying at least one symptom of the Coronavirus. Lamont McClure and Northampton County DCED organized a partnership with Lehigh Valley Hospital-Coordinated Health Allentown Hospital (LVH-CHA) to set up the site which will be located at 3100 Emrick Blvd. Bethlehem, PA 18020. Hours of operation will be Monday through Friday from 10:00AM – 4:00PM. The site will open in a few weeks.
A Physician’s order is not required but, to be eligible for testing, individuals must report or display one or more CDC-recognized symptoms of COVID-19: fever, dry cough, shortness of breath, chills, muscle pain, headache, sore throat or loss of taste and/or smell. The drive-through testing site is open to everyone, but only residents of Northampton County are eligible to have the cost covered by the County if they do not have health coverage. All testing will be through HNL Lab Medicine unless insurance requires an alternate laboratory. Participants should bring a photo ID and their insurance card, if they have one, with them to the testing site.
The importance of increased testing is that it enables public health officials to trace an infected person's contacts and ask them to quarantine themselves for 14 days. Increased testing will yield an additional spike in cases, but in the long run, it reduces community spread.
Universal Testing at Northampton County Prison
Northampton County Council approved a resolution to allocate $200,000 in CARES Act funds for a proactive testing program for COVID-19 at the Northampton County Prison. On July 7, 2020, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended universal testing for jails and prisons. The Department of Corrections will coordinate with Prime Care Medical to develop a plan to test inmates and staff.
McClure indicated he may want to perform antibody testing on corrections officers, which may indicate at least a few months of immunity.
Today's one-liner: "The shortest way to the distinguishing excellence of any writer is through his hostile critics." Richard LeGallienne
Local Government TV
▼
Friday, July 17, 2020
11 comments:
You own views are appreciated, especially if they differ from mine. But remember, commenting is a privilege, not a right. I will delete personal attacks or off-topic remarks at my discretion. Comments that play into the tribalism that has consumed this nation will be declined. So will comments alleging voter fraud unless backed up by concrete evidence. If you attack someone personally, I expect you to identify yourself. I will delete criticisms of my comment policy, vulgarities, cut-and-paste jobs from other sources and any suggestion of violence towards anyone. I will also delete sweeping generalizations about mainstream parties or ideologies, i.e. identity politics. My decisions on these matters are made on a case by case basis, and may be affected by my mood that day, my access to the blog at the time the comment was made or other information that isn’t readily apparent.
" which may indicate at least a few months of immunity."
ReplyDeleteIf being infected with Covid-19 and fully recovering does not leave you immunized for more than a few months, than being injected with certain molecules called antigens from that pathogen to trigger an immune response known as a vaccine cannot be expected to work more than a few months.
Immunotherapy is based on this principle, if Covid-19 is the exception than a vaccine could leave you with permanently reoccurring infections or dead just the same.
The antibody test is the most valued test for determining herd immunity and returning to normalcy, which is why we do not and will not have drive though testing for antibodies until perhaps after the election.
What really happen this year.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to Covid-19 this guy has it all.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUADdBXqLkI
1:35, I do not have a link at the moment, but a recent study suggests that antibodies do NOT give you permanent protection from Covid-19. The author indicated this is not unusual in that antibodies to most coronaviruses are only temporary. He indicated a vaccine would also be temporary and that boosters would be needed from time to time. I will locate the link and post it tomorrow. But that is why I said antibodies should provide at least a few months of protection.
ReplyDeleteConspiracy theorists like that are nutz and so are you if you believe that crap.
ReplyDelete"Conspiracy theorists like that are nutz and so are you if you believe that crap."
ReplyDeleteI agree that it's as nutz as the media-spiracy that questions whether full recovery immunizes an individual which is the bases for the effectiveness of vaccines. Pure anti-vaccine drivel.
Wrong. This is not an argument against vaccines. It is an argument for vaccines with booster shots. There are now several studies suggesting antibodies fade over time. Nor is this unusual for any coronavirus. Try facts sometime. https://www.sfchronicle.com/health/article/With-coronavirus-antibodies-fading-fast-focus-15414533.php
ReplyDeleteThis suggests you do in fact retain immunity, if you are among the 8,098 people that had Sars-cov-1.
ReplyDelete"when examining old blood samples from an individual who had been infected with SARS coronavirus in 2003, they discovered an antibody—S309—in the blood of a person that effectively blocked SARS-CoV-2."
https://www.eatthis.com/coronavirus-sars-immunity/
Heard numerous caseworkers were walked out of the Human Service Building and told not to return for 14 days because they traveled out of state recently. Has McClure implemented this policy for county workers because this is news to me.
ReplyDeleteHeard numerous caseworkers were walked out of Human Service Building this week for leaving the state and told not to return for 14 days. Any info on this.
ReplyDeleteHe announced at last night's Council meeting that any employee who goes on vacation at a Covid-19 hot spot will be unable to return to work for 14 days. I will write about this Monday. I am unsure whether county workers received advance notice.
ReplyDeleteNeed to test first responders of antibodies now. If we have second wave they will be the stand ins . Paid fire and police and regular volunteers that show up on duty to run calls. Need to identify them now.
ReplyDelete