Until now, the state Health Department has closely guarded information on the spread of the coronavirus pandemic across Pennsylvania, only releasing data by county. Starting today, each county’s emergency responders will get more specific information on who has tested positive, so ambulance and other emergency personnel know what they’re getting into when they are dispatched.
While the Department of Health will not confirm what exactly they will reveal, State Senator Kim Ward says Health Secretary Rachel Levine told her that county EMA’s will be given the addresses of people who have tested positive. Ward is preparing to introduce legislation to amend Pennsylvania’s 1955 Disease Prevention and Control Act to require the release of specific information to county officials, but not the general public.
County EMS agencies across the commonwealth have criticized the state’s lack of transparency about who has tested positive, saying it puts the lives of emergency responders in jeopardy.
In the last couple of weeks, several callers to Renda Broadcasting have also called for the release of information on Covid-19 positive tests, not just to emergency services agencies, but to the public, complaining that they don’t know what areas to avoid.
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