Most New Coronavirus Cases In Bucks Are At Long-Term Care Homes

BUCKS COUNTY, PA — Bucks County's top health official said Thursday that once outbreaks of the new coronavirus in long-term care facilities are brought under control, the county will be on its way to meeting requirements to start reopening.

Dr. David Damsker, director of the Bucks County Health Department, said that more than 50 facilities in Bucks County, from nursing homes and assisted-living facilities to the Bucks County Correctional Facility have reported cases of the virus.

Between half and two-thirds of all new coronavirus cases are coming from those facilities, he said.

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Damsker's comments came after Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf unveiled a three-phase plan to re-open the state's economy after non-essential businesses and other public places were shut down to curb the spread of the virus.

Under the plan, a region will be deemed ready to reopen when there's an average of less than 50 cases per 100,000 people over a 14-day period.

"If we weren't in the situation we're in with the nursing home facilities, I'd say we were much closer" to that mark, Damsker said Thursday. "Once we kind of get through this very difficult hurdle with our long-term care facilities ... I believe we will be very close, looking at those numbers."

Damsker spoke during an online news conference with members of the Bucks County Board of Commissioners and other county officials.

Although southeastern Pennsylvania is expected to be among the last parts of the state to reopen, Bucks commissioners say they're pleased with what they know of Wolf's plan, at least so far.

"We're happy that the plan is in place and it looks like it has a good amount of logic to it," said Commissioner Bob Harvie. "But there are still some questions about some of the specifics."

For one, Harvie said, he's looking on clarification on whether benchmarks to reopen would have to be hit by individual counties or the region as a whole.

Commissioner Gene DiGirolamo, the board's lone Republican, said he's been pleased with the job Wolf, a Democrat, has done, but that he'd like to see counties be judged individually for reopening.

RELATED: 8 New Coronavirus Deaths Reported In Bucks Co. Wednesday

"I think Gov. Wolf has done a really good job in handling and managing this crisis that we're experiencing," he said. "We're not going to make everyone happy all the time. I lean towards, we have to be very, very careful about what we're opening up."

"We're still trying to digest everything in the governor's plan. It looks reasonable. But I am also a person that thinks, I would love to see Bucks County have the flexibility to do what's best for Bucks County. I would not like to see us lumped together with Philadelphia and the other surrounding counties and forced to do something that might not be in the interest of Bucks County."

Damsker said that as of 12:30 p.m. or so, there had been five new deaths in Bucks County on Thursday due to the coronavirus.

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