Social Distancing Needed For 'A Long Time': Bucks Health Director

BUCKS COUNTY, PA — Bucks County is getting closer to reopening, but residents should plan on practicing social distancing long after the doors are opened, the county's top health official said Thursday.

"We are getting closer to reopening society but, at the same time, we also need to continue to do the social distancing," said Dr. David Damsker, director of the Bucks County Department of Health.

During a digital news conference, Damsker noted that a large portion of the county's new coronavirus cases, and almost all COVID-19 related deaths, are happening in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.

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The relatively small amount of community spread should be considered as officials mull reopening, but the presence of the virus in the community means things won't get fully back to normal any time soon, Damsker said.

"When we decide to open up businesses and people are getting closer together, they have to wear masks. They have to use hand sanitizer. They have to stay as far away from people as possible," he said. "That's not going to stop.

"We could reopen society in the next month, two months, whatever it is, (but) we have to continue doing that until the number of cases drop. That could be a long time from now. So, people need to get used to the measures we're taking."

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County commissioners and other officials answered other coronavirus-related questions during the digital news conference, including:

June 2 Election

Commissioners urged Bucks County residents to consider casting a mail-in ballot in Pennsylvania's primary, which was postponed until June 2.

"We'd really like it to be a mail-in turnout," said Marseglia. "By law, we are going to have to have the polling places open and they'll have to all be open and staffed. But we strongly recommend that people do a mail-in vote."

At the polls, there will be plexiglass barriers, gloves, masks, hand sanitizer, disposable pens and more precautions to combat the spread of COVID-19, Marseglia said.

To apply for a mail-in ballot, you may visit the Votes PA website.

Qualifying for a mail-in ballot for the primary also will qualify you to cast one in the November general election, Marseglia said.

Nursing Homes

Bucks County Department of Health Director Dr. David Damsker and other officials talked a lot about long-term care facilities, where an increasingly large percentage of the county's coronavirus cases, and deaths, have been reported.

Damsker said that about half of all of Bucks County's more than 3,000 cases of the coronavirus have been long-term care facility residents, long-term care facility workers or other healthcare workers.

He said the county is working with the 61 care facilities at which there have been coronavirus outbreaks.

At county-owned Neshaminy Manor, workers have been testing residents who showed symptoms of the coronavirus. But, in the past day or two, the facility has gotten enough test kits to test a larger number of residents, Damsker said.

He said that, in the future, visitation policies and other protocols will have to be reconsidered at the facility as the coronavirus remains in the community.

"We're going to have to take areal serious look at this," he said. "In some ways, if we can get through this, we're going to have residents that are better protected. They're going to have antibodies and immunity built up. (But) as we know, coronavirus isn't going to go away next week or the week after."

County Offices Reopening

County officials are targeting May 18 as the date to reopen some county offices to the public. Commissioner Gene DiGirolamo said workers who have been working from home will begin cycling back into office shifts, possibly starting with two or three in-office shifts per week.

"I think we've been doing a good job ... but I think this might make it a little easier to provide these services," DiGirolamo said.

Town Halls

Bucks County Board of Commissioners Chairwoman Diane Ellis-Marseglia said a digital town hall, at which officials will take questions from community members, is planned for Monday morning. Another town hall — this one for students in grades K-12 – is planned for Monday, May 11, she said.

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