How Well Did NorCo Respond to the Pandemic?

Blogger's Note: Democrats like to point their finger at Donald Trump's pitiful response to the pandemic, which essentially amounted to sticking his head in the sand and pretending nothing was happening. Republicans fault Governor Tom Wolf, who acted as though the sky was falling. Neither the federal nor state governments deserve high marks for their pandemic response. 

I personally think local governments really rose to the occasion. There were far too many deaths among Gracedale residents, but the county was very proactive in limiting residents to virus exposure. I believe the census would be zero if our Executive was someone who opposes face masks and vaccines.  

Northampton County’s role in the pandemic was limited, but it made federal funds available to small businesses, renters facing eviction, set up testing and vaccination sites and provided assistance to local municipalities and nonprofits. What is your assessment at how the county responded to this health crisis and what would you do differently?

Ron Heckman. - Despite confusing and conflicting messaging from the state and federal governments, the county did an admirable job in responding to the pandemic. Effective plans were put into practice in order to get funding to small businesses and others in need. We moved expeditiously but with proper oversight. The executive and legislative branches of county government worked together for the best interest of all county residents and employees. While some derided or played down the seriousness of the pandemic, Northampton County took all possible steps to mitigate the effects of the crisis. We formed a partnership with health care providers to assure that both Covid testing and vaccines were made available to county residents. The Covid 19 pandemic is the most serious crisis the county ever had to confront. We must always strive to be better, but all in all, the county responded with prompt and focused effectiveness.

Tara Zrinski. - Hind sight is always 20/20. I think the administration and Council did the best we could at the time with what we knew.  I’m not sure we could have done much differently but to secure Gracedale and the Prison sooner to diminish the spread of infection, to get PPE out quicker to protect our workers, and to establish protocol for sanitizing County facilities quicker so that people felt safe at work. Again, I thinks the administration and Council handled an extremely difficult situation well but, I also think the County could have been more lenient to accommodate hybrid and remote work for whom it was applicable and/or necessary. I understand that some jobs cannot be done remotely but, as someone who works remotely and online, I think there is room for creativity and flexibility. I think many working families made tough choices to stay home with their children in the absence of childcare or onsite education. 

Lori Vargo-Heffner. - I believe we did a phenomenal job given the unprecedented nature of the pandemic.  Since no direction was available from the Federal government until the CARES Act, it was important to protect our most vulnerable citizens and our employees.  Lives were lost, the worst toll of this situation , but thankfully fewer to  do the quick response and excellence to serviceof our employees.  I believe  the pandemic highlighted the need for more creative work solutions, health protections, new level of sanitizing work areas, and enhanced communication methods.  If I would do anything different it would be to link with the health networks quickly to provide testing &vaccines  sooner, but,  they were honestly in the same situation as we were, inventing methods and being creative as information progressed. I would learn from this and make sure disaster matrices are available and intact going forward.

Bill McGee. - Northampton county was very responsive to the public, and county as the pandemic unfolded. If we could go back and do it all over again I am not sure I would change anything. We were proactive on testing, vaccinations, PPE, and policy. I also believe that we were very helpful to our small businesses and surrounding municipalities. Moving forward we need to make sure we have the resources available to handle any similar issues that may arise.

Patti Bruno. - As a former analyst for Homeland I can tell you that our budget for FEMA, response, science was slashed. Our country responded the best we could given the means. As a new administration took place, we were able to assist more - but it doesn’t negate the fact we neglect a problem for a long time. You can see that in even President’s Budget.

John Brown. - No response.

John Goffredo. - No response.

Nicole Romanishin. - No response.

Kristin Lorah Soldridge. - No response.

Annamarie Robertone. - No response.