Beaver County officials blast Wolf’s decision to keep county under heavy coronavirus restrictions
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Beaver County officials blasted Gov. Tom Wolf on Friday for his decision to keep their county under the most restrictive pandemic-related guidelines, while the county’s district attorney declared he wouldn’t prosecute business owners who choose to flout the continued restrictions.
Commissioners and lawmakers got ahead of Wolf’s 2 p.m. announcement that all of Southwestern Pennsylvania — except Beaver County — next week would move into the yellow phase of the tiered reopening process.
“I can’t fathom ever making such an arbitrary and capricious decision,” Commissioner Jack Manning said. “Any analysis of fact would lead you to a different decision.”
The county is home to Brighton Rehab, a nursing home that has been hit hard by covid-19. Leaders in the long-term care facility have not said how many people there have contracted the virus or died, but the county’s death toll Friday stood at 78, all but seven of which were in care facilities, according to state data.
The Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency reported a coronavirus outbreak of more than 100 cases at the facility in mid-April. State Rep. Josh Kail (R-Beaver/Washington) announced Friday that about 300 of the 479 covid-19 cases in Beaver County are in Brighton Rehab.
“We have been singled out because of one isolated nursing home outbreak the Pennsylvania Department of Health utterly failed to assist immediately,” said Commissioner Daniel Camp.
U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb, D-Mt. Lebanon, on Thursday called for an “immediate investigation into the competence and performance of the Brighton Rehabilitation and Wellness Center’s management.”
Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said during her press briefing Friday that the situation at Brighton has been “very challenging.” She said a state-chosen and state-funded temporary manager will be assigned to Brighton to help get a handle on the situation there.
Kail said Friday that he and Reps. Jim Marshall (R-Beaver/Butler) and Aaron Bernstine (R-Beaver/Butler/Lawrence) sent a letter to Levine expressing “deep concern with the DOH’s reckless handling of nursing home oversight.” Kail said his office sent two letters to Levine citing two alternate facilities where sick seniors could be temporarily cared for while other seniors could be shielded from the virus, “yet no action was taken,” he said.
“Their lack of response to the situation at Brighton Rehab, a crisis they were supposed to be managing, is now also responsible for holding Beaver County hostage,” Kail said of the health department.
District Attorney David Lozier said his office will not prosecute business owners who open their doors, which goes against the restrictions in place under the red phase, where the county will remain.
Camp said the commissioners stand behind that decision and encouraged businesses that do open to follow guidelines regarding social distancing and other mitigation efforts.
He called the governor’s decision to isolate Beaver County “irrational” and likened it to “economic punishment” and being “sucker punched.”
Wolf said local leaders are “taking a chance with the lives of residents.”
“I think you’re jeopardizing lives,” he said during his press briefing. “In our opinion, the time is not right (to lift restrictions). I think it’s soon in Beaver County’s case, but it’s not right today.
“If they go ahead and do that, they’re taking a chance.”
Wolf and Levine have said that cases within long-term care facilities will continue to be included in a county’s total case count because employees are going into the facilities and then out into the community.
“These medical professionals are modern-day heroes,” Camp said. “There’s no way, shape or form that they should be the poster child to keep Beaver County in the red phase.”
Wolf said he sympathizes with counties that remained in the red phase, but that safety was his first concern.
“Every county wants to reopen as quickly as possible,” he said. “The remedy is not to ignore the fact this virus is out there.”
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State officials weigh in
• Rep. Jim Marshall (R-Beaver/Butler): “While I’m glad that Butler County will be able to move to the next phase in a week, I’m troubled the Department of Health allowed the conditions at Brighton Rehabilitation and Wellness Center to rise to the unimaginable number of cases that exist and use the positive case count against Beaver County’s reopening. I’m deeply sorry for the families who are feeling the devastation of the virus because their loved ones live or work in Brighton Rehab. I also feel that it’s irresponsible to detain residents of an entire county because of the conditions at one facility.”
• Rep. Josh Kail (R-Beaver/Washington): “Beaver County should be in yellow. Outside of one nursing facility that is overseen by the Department of Health (DOH), we have well under 200 cases. Our small businesses are suffering, our workers are not getting paid and our hospital system is nearing financial ruin. … The Department of Health – through its lack of response to many requests, inquiries and suggestions that I and others have offered — mandated covid-19 patients be taken back into Brighton Rehab. More than 60 residents died. … DOH workers are supposed to provide oversight of nursing homes. Their lack of response to the situation at Brighton Rehab, a crisis they were supposed to be managing, is now also responsible for holding Beaver County hostage as the only county in western Pennsylvania prevented from safely going back to work.”
• Rep. Rob Matzie (D-Beaver/Allegheny): “Beaver County remaining in covid red status, due to inflated numbers from one nursing home, makes zero sense. I’ve been urging the administration, for over a month, to intervene in the dire situation at Brighton Rehab. I directly informed the Department of Health of my concerns about the lack of transparency with residents, families and the public. … So now a facility that is responsible for nearly 70% of our county’s total cases is being used as a reason to hold us back? It’s unacceptable.”