As County Coronavirus Deaths Increase to Six, Community Organizations Look to the Future

County coronavirus cases have increased about five percent every day over the past week, leading to a 40 percent weekly increase, from 95 cases last Thursday to 137 today.

The 14-day moving average of new cases is now at 70, putting the county over the cutoff of 50 that Governor Wolf said he would look to for guidance on reopening.

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See past and current county coronavirus statistics here

According to county coroner Pat Felix, the number of virus-related deaths in the county has now increased to 6. Felix said these deaths were four males and two females, and that all had underlying medical issues.

 

In a conference call sponsored by the Adams County Community Foundation on Tuesday, many community organizations summarized their efforts in mitigating the effects of the virus:

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Eric Zaney with Adams Regional Emergency Medical Services said all eight of the county’s mobile ambulance units are prepared. “Although 80 percent of our staff have transported coronavirus patients, all EMS crews are safe and healthy,” said Zaney.

Zaney said the number of non- coronavirus-related transports has decreased substantially since the pandemic began and reminded residents that calling 911 is the proper thing to do if you think you may need hospitalization.

Carrie Stuart from the Adams-Gettysburg Chamber said her organization continues to help local businesspeople, providing ways for “businesses to get direct answers from legislators and share their opinions and concerns.” Stuart said the Chamber is holding a series of free webinars and other additional resources to help local businesses.

Christy Cramer said Destination Gettysburg is maintaining communication with their audiences by monitoring potential tourist traffic in the area. “We’re making informed marketing decisions,” said Cramer.

Cramer said the county was currently experiencing a 95 reduction in hotel spending.

Main Street Gettysburg’s CEO Deb Adamik said her organization had been contacting businesses to assess their needs and was working in partnership with Gettysburg Borough to develop the Main Street Gettysburg Cares program.

Adamik said the program was designed to “help businesses prepare for safe openings and to provide financial assistance whenever we can.”

Adamik said the program had three phases (Prepare, Prevent, and Protect) and would include a business jumpstart toolkit that would provide a small number of cloth masks, sanitizer, social distancing floor markers, signage and safety instructions to 200 – 250 businesses in the Borough of Gettysburg. The jumpstart kit will also have safety guidelines.

Businesses can sign up for the program at Main Street Gettysburg.

GBG Borough Manager Charles Gable said the borough was now offering low-interest loans to businesses. Gable said the loans are designed to help people “get back into business.”

Robin Patrick from the Adams Economic Alliance said programs are available for larger businesses who have laid off employees through the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act that helps find employment for workers who have been laid off.

Fitzgerald said Wyndam Hotels and Resorts, Clark’s North America, Friendly’s Restaurant, and Liberty Mountain Resort have currently applied for these programs.

Adams County Commissioner Marty Qually said the Adams County Building was requiring face masks and a temperature check for all visitors.

Qually said some court cases will begin next week in an attempt to deal with a backlog of cases caused by the health emergency.

Qually reminded residents that county tax deadlines have been pushed back to June 30 for early payment discounts and after Oct 31 for late payment penalties.

Qually encouraged voters to file for a mail-in ballot and said the number of those requests received by the elections office was much larger than last year.

Qually also said construction was expected to restart soon on the Mercy House.

John Ski from HACC said all of HACC’s summer classes will be held remotely, and that the college was expecting to make a decision on fall classes in the next few weeks.

Ski said HACC would not be raising tuition in the fall.

Alex Hayes from the Gettysburg Times said the paper would be extending print subscriptions and offering access to the e-edition for many subscribers. Hayes said subscribers having difficulty accessing the e-editions should call the Times office.

Hayes also said the May-June issue of the Companion Magazine would be published in both print and online formats.

Jeremiah Herbert said the Gettysburg Ministerium was offering a voucher program that provides gas, food, and other services to people in the county.

Herbert said people who were in need should contact a local church. “Any church that’s part of the Ministerium can quickly help people,” said Herbert.

Herbert can be contacted at gettysburgchurches@gmail.com

SCCAP Executive Officer Megan Shreve said “Needs are still consistently high for food. If you know people who need food send them to SCCAP.”

“The next critical issue is going to be rent and mortgage assistance. We are applying for grants to try to help with that,” said Shreve.

“We’re looking forward to recovery and helping people,” said Shreve.

The Adams County Community Foundation Executive Officer Ralph Sherpe announced the creation of new grants under a Coronavirus Relief and Recovery Fund. Sherpe said the organization would have four grant cycles over the next year to help nonprofits adapt to the coronavirus crisis.

Sherpe said initial funding for the program included $100K from the Community Foundation’s Fund for Adams County and an additional donation of $50,000.

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Charles (Chuck) Stangor is Gettysburg Connection's Owner, Publisher, and Editor in Chief. I would like to hear from you. Please contact me at cstangor@gettysburgconnection.org.

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