Needing continued funding for state’s pandemic response
HARRISBURG– There’s been an increase in COVID-19 cases in school-age children and at long-term care facilities across the state. State Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levin says in the past two weeks, over two thousand cases of COVID-19 were reported in school-aged kids. And, she says cases involving those aged 13-18 are higher now than at the start of the pandemic.
Also increasing… cases in long-term care facilities, about 800 in the past week. With these rises, Levine says it is essential to extend the use of the PA National Guard and the Regional Response Health Care Collaboratives.
“This assistance is essential to our response and we must ensure that we continue to have it as we pass into the fall and the winter months. So, we need an extension of the RRHCC program because it is scheduled to sunset on December 1st,” Levine said.
Levine says the state will need their federal partners to extend approved dates for existing funding and ensure the state has additional CARES Act funding to continue these needed programs. The health secretary would also like to see the use of the PA National Guard extended.
“We also need the federal government and the president to authorize the Title 32 assignment for the Pennsylvania National Guard through the winter and ideally until the end of the pandemic. The Pennsylvania National Guard has been instrumental in the work being done to protect our most vulnerable Pennsylvanias,” Levine said.
Levin spoke on Monday at a news conference in Harrisburg.
