State Senator Mastriano COVID-19 Update (April 20, 2020)
Pennsylvania COVID-19 Cases
162,952 tested in Pennsylvania statewide; 129,720 tested negative, 33,232 have tested positive (20.39%) this is an increase of 948 from yesterday.
3051 are hospitalized, 646 of those hospitalized required ventilators, 1204 deaths.
Adams County has 85, an increase of 5 from yesterday.
Franklin County has 115, an increase of 4 from yesterday.
York County has 493, an increase of 12 from yesterday.
Cumberland County has 186, an increase of 4 from yesterday.
Recoveries are still not being reported.
In Pennsylvania:
42.4% of all beds are available.
36.6% of all ICU beds are available.
71.09% of all ventilators are available.
Working For You - Legislation I Sponsored
Senate Bill 1103: PA Healthy Citizens and Healthy Businesses --- referred to Senate Health Committee.
Senate Bill 1097: Electronic Notarization legislation --- reported out of the Senate Appropriations Committee last week by a unanimous vote.
Senate Resolution 323: Legislative Oversight & Input on Emergency Actions - - - assigned to the Senate Veterans Affairs & Emergency Preparedness Committee.
Senate Bill 1117: This will temporarily re-allocate Sports Betting Revenue to Property Tax Relief.
Senate Bill 1112: Modernizes the outdated Disease Prevention & Control Act of 1955. Unfortunately, the Health Department has been using this outdated law to withhold life-saving information. The state Senate commissioned a report on the Disease Prevention and Control Law in 2013, and several recommendations were suggested to lawmakers. My measure seeks actions on those recommendations.
https://senatormastriano.com/2020/04/20/mastriano-state-health-law-from-1955-needs-updated/
Other Bills I Am Supporting During This Crisis:
COVID-19 Crisis Grant Program for Volunteer Fire and EMS Companies (Senator Pittman)
Small Business Disaster and Emergency Relief (Senator Killion)
Property Tax Payment and Penalty Relief for Local Taxpayers (Senator Martin)
Change for Business Interruption Insurance during the COVID-19 pandemic (Senator Hughes)
Education Issues to Address Concerns of the COVID-19 pandemic (Senator Langerholc)
Prorated Refunds for Room and Board (Senator Martin)
Payment of Contract Services in Schools (Senator lovino)
Allowing Construction Activities to Resume Safe Operations (Senator Arnold)
Removing outdated regulatory barriers to help close the digital divide (Senator Phillips-Hill)
Requiring DOH to release communicable disease information by municipality (Senator K. Ward)
Business disruption insurance during COVID-19 (Senator Dinniman)
Crisis grant to Volunteer Fire & EMS companies due to COVID-19 (Senator Brewster)
COVID-19 crisis grant program for non-profit organizations (Senator Killion)
Food Assistance, Healthcare through Safety-Net Programs Available During COVID-19
Pennsylvanians are reminded that public benefit programs are available to families and individuals who have lost jobs, income and health insurance as a result of the COVID-19 public health emergency. These programs include the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).
DHS has also worked with its partners at the state and federal levels to implement policies that are responsive to the exceptional ways that all of our lives have changed in recent weeks, including extending certification periods for public assistance programs so participation can continue through the public health crisis.
On Thursday, DHS began issuing emergency Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits in line with the federal government’s interpretation of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. Payments include a supplemental increase for both March and April and will continue to be issued for current SNAP households through April 29. DHS is also advising Pennsylvanians in need of food assistance of local supports that can help meet essential needs during the public health crisis.
While CAO offices are currently closed to the public in observance of guidance from public health professionals to slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus, work processing applications, determining eligibility, and issuing benefits continues.
DHS encourages the public to take advantage of the ability to submit applications for all of these programs online at www.compass.state.pa.us. Individuals with a smartphone can also download the mobile app, MYCOMPASS PA, which is available at the App Store or Google Play Store.
Applications by mail are also acceptable or they can be dropped off at any County Assistance Office, which are closed to the public but equipped with drop boxes for this purpose. Clients can call the Statewide Customer Service Center at 1-877-395-8930.
Pennsylvanians can also apply for Medical Assistance by phone by calling the Consumer Service Center at 1-866-550-4355.
EBT payments are still scheduled to occur during the closure and activated EBT cards can still be used as usual at ATMs and in stores at point-of-sale machines if the client has a balance. Balance and transaction inquiries, as well as EBT card replacement, can be requested from DHS’s EBT contractor, Conduent, at 888-328-7366.
News from UPMC
Good news is that although COVID-19 remains a very dangerous illness, UPMC is seeing some seriously ill patients recover and leave their hospitals. They had a patient at UPMC Hanover and UPMC Memorial that had been intubated for several days. These patients have since been extubated and are recovering. On Monday, April 13, the patient from UPMC Hanover was successfully discharged.
UPMC system wide has 98 inpatients who tested positive for COVID-19 being safely cared for and treated. Many do not need intensive care or ventilators.
Patients are continuing to turn to our telemedicine options for primary and specialty care. For the week ending April 5, UPMC Pinnacle did 2,278 ambulatory (primary care and specialty) virtual telemedicine visits. This is a 300 percent increase from the week before. We also did 375 inpatient telemedicine consults, for a total of 2,653 telemedicine visits.
UPMC Pinnacle’s Video Visit webpage now includes an education demo video for patients. The easy, step-by-step tutorial assists patients in setting up their scheduled virtual visit with a primary care or specialty care provider through the MyPinnacleHealth (MyChart) portal. Check it out at- https://www.pinnaclehealth.org/patient-portal/online-video-visits/scheduled-video-visit-instructions
Volunteers & Help in District 33
Thank you to each of you that have reached out to help during this time to deliver groceries, prescriptions and supplies. Please continue to let me know, via my email address or phone number listed below, under the conclusion article, if you can help.
Points of Light
Danielle Smith from McSherrystown does weekly live chats on the Facebook TIM page. She shares information that is of great value to many constituents in District 33. The live broadcasts are Tuesday evenings at 7 pm. Thank you Danielle for the support and sharing important updates.