'We're seeing it creep our way': Cambria commissioners get update on COVID-19

Apr. 10--EBENSBURG -- The Cambria County Board of Commissioners heard Thursday that the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic is continuing to creep toward the county.

"We're still on an uptick of cases, unfortunately," Art Martynuska, coordinator of the Cambria County Emergency Management Agency, told Commissioners Tom Chernisky, B.J. Smith and Scott Hunt, all of whom were wearing masks. "We are experiencing growth, and I think we're going to unfortunately see more growth here in Cambria County."

As of noon Thursday, Cambria County had 10 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and one confirmed death -- that of 87-year-old Louis Blum, of Dysart, who tested positive for the virus at UPMC Altoona and died there on Sunday. Statewide, there were 18,228 confirmed cases and 338 deaths.

Martynuska said he participated on Thursday morning in a conference call with state health officials who said eastern Pennsylvania cities such as Scranton, Allentown and Bethlehem are now seeing more COVID-19 cases because people from hard-hit New York City are traveling into Pennsylvania.

"The expectation is, it's going to move west," he said. "We know that another hot spot, of course, is Pittsburgh, Westmoreland County, because of the population density. We're kind of encroached on both sides, and we're seeing it creep our way."

It's not yet certain exactly when the pandemic is going to peak in and around Cambria County, Martynuska said: "We're looking at different models to see when this is going to peak, when it may not peak. It's a moving target, as we like to tell everybody."

"Our messaging stays the same as it always has been -- frequent hand-washing, hand sanitizer," Martynuska said, adding that his agency recently procured about 200 gallons of hand sanitizer that was parceled out into smaller containers and distributed. Another bulk order of hand sanitizer is expected to arrive late this week or early next week.

"We want to get the message across to all of our constituents," he added, "whether they be public, private, for-profit, nonprofit, if they have any concerns or any unmet needs, to call us. We're available 24/7, and if anybody needs anything from Emergency Management, we're certainly here to answer those questions."

Martynuska also said he wants to get the message out that the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) advises any municipality that hasn't yet done so to declare a state of emergency with no definite end date.

The county received its first shipment of personal protective equipment (PPE) Wednesday from PEMA, Martynuska said. The equipment will be distributed to emergency responders, then to health care providers as needed. The county has also received a stock of KN95 masks, which according to the New York Times are "almost identical" to the more well-known and sought-after N95 masks, from a private vendor.

In addition, Martynuska said his agency has received donations of cloth masks produced by members of the community. One woman from Westmont donated 100 masks.

"We're expecting more as they get produced by folks out there who are being very generous with their time and efforts," he said.

Also during Thursday's meeting of the Board of Commissioners:

--A subrecipient agreement was approved to allow the Cambria County Backpack Project, a nonprofit that provides food to at-risk children, to receive $38,040 in Pennsylvania Community Development Block Grant funding.

--An $83,898 bid by Mar-Allen Concrete Products Inc., of Ephrata, Lancaster County, for repairs to the county-owned Barr Avenue Bridge in Northern Cambria was approved.

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