Warminster Declares Coronavirus A Local Emergency

WARMINSTER, PA — Warminster Township has declared the new coronavirus outbreak a local disaster emergency, with an eye toward its effects in the coming weeks.

Township Manager Gregg Schuster declared the local emergency as of 2 p.m. Thursday. Doing so, he said, frees up local leaders to take more aggressive action in the event that the outbreak worsens in the township.

"That is not because there's been any particular change in our circumstances," Schuster said. "It is simply because we want to be prepared for what could happen over the next couple of weeks."

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The declaration directs the township's emergency management director "to coordinate the activities of the Emergency Response and to take all appropriate action necessary to alleviate the effects of the disaster, to aid in the restoration of essential public services and to take any and all other Emergency Response action as deemed necessary."

In Bucks County, 110 people had tested positive for COVID-19 as of Wednesday evening, with six hospitalized and four in critical condition. Warminster is among the municipalities where cases have been reported.

This week, an employee at the Ann's Choice senior-living community in Warminster was among those diagnosed with the coronavirus.

In declaring the coronavirus outbreak a local emergency, Warminster joins several other Bucks County municipalities that have taken similar action.

>>> Full coverage of coronavirus in Pennsylvania here.