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Dr. David Damsker, Bucks County’s health director, told the House Majority Policy Committee everyone needs to continue to take the coronavirus seriously by wearing masks and maintaining distance from other people.
“The point though is we need to find a way to move forward and look for ways to say we can do this, and not for people to say we can’t do it,” he said.
For example, he believes schools can safely restart in-person instruction as long as they follow the guidance. But he said there are other restrictions that make sense, like limiting alcohol sales.
“If you go in there with the intent of social distancing, after a couple of drinks you may not have that same intent so social distance, it’s just the way it works,” Damsker said.
Damsker also said we should rethink testing as the current PCR tests are good at diagnosing someone who is sick, but they can also pick up the virus in someone who is days or even weeks past being infectious.
“We oughta take this seriously but we also have to be smart and move forward in a way that we can do long term,” he added.
Montgomery County Commissioner Dr. Val Arkoosh said they’re seeing 45 to 50 new cases each day, and the percentage of all tests that come back positive is also going up.
“We are still below five percent, which is good. Below five percent is considered suppression of this virus, but this is a very worrisome trend and I really hope that people will take this seriously,” she said.
Arkoosh chalks up the rise in cases to community spread, meaning they can’t track cases to a specific cause as people just picked it up out in the community. She’s calling on residents to be more vigilant.
But Damsker said the rise in cases are from college students getting infected at schools outside of the county then coming home. And if their home is Bucks County, the case counts for Bucks County.
He also added those college students generally aren’t getting infected in the classroom, but instead at social gatherings.