Catasauqua Press

The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association held a board of directors meeting this week via teleconference. The meeting was a regularly-scheduled board meeting and was not held in response to the coronavirus school closure.

Last week, on March 23, after Governor Tom Wolf extended the school closure to a third week, the PIAA announced that there was no date set to resume the spring sports season and remainder of the winter postseason.

Monday Wolf announced that schools across the state will remain closed indefinitely.

In a press conference March 30, Gov. Tom Wolf and Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine revised the commonwealth’s stay-at-home orders to include Carbon, Cumberland, Dauphin and Schuylkill counties, bringing the state total to 26 counties under a stay-at-home order.

This order took effect 8 p.m. March 30 and will continue until April 30.

According to the news release, all Pennsylvania schools will remain closed until further notice.

Non-life-sustaining business closures also remain in effect.

During the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is in critical supply.

Face masks are PPE that helps protect health-care providers and non-clinical health-care workers from droplets that may be expelled by a cough or sneeze.

Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN) seeks the community’s help to sew face masks for LVHN.

Those who have a sewing machine and sewing skills are asked to make fabric face masks.

A mask can be used and reused after laundering it. This helps preserve the supply of professionally-manufactured PPE.

During the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic, St. Luke’s University Health Network is encouraging patients who have a scheduled appointment or want to make an appointment to call their physician’s office to schedule a virtual visit in place of an office visit.

“Staying home is important in a time like this,” said St. Luke’s family medicine physician Dennis McGorry, MD.

“As we are being advised to shelter in place, it should be reassuring to know that your doctor is here for you,” McGorry

St. Luke’s Virtual Visits include those for:

St. Luke’s University Health Network, Filament Innovations of Coplay and 3D manufacturer ProtoCAM of Allentown have teamed up to produce 3D printed masks and face shields for health-care providers during the the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

“We’ve been following the news in Europe related to medical supplies, and I knew we had to act quickly,” said Megan Augustine, Director of St. Luke’s University Health Network’s Simulation Center.

St. Luke’s University Health Network is managing the Networks’ response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic through its Incident Command Center in Bethlehem.

The Incident Command Center has been organized according to the structure and principles established by United States Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

The Incident Command Center is in operation 24/7, staffed by a team of experts, including those who have undergone emergency preparedness training at FEMA’s Center for Domestic Preparedness in Alabama.

St. Luke’s University Health Network has implemented a universal masking policy for its patient-facing Health Care Workers (HCW) and employees.

St. Luke’s made the universal masking decision to protect its patients and staff and to help reduce the community spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19).

“We currently have an adequate supply of Personal Protective Equipment [PPE] to undertake this important safety initiative,” said Kara Mascitti, MD, St. Luke’s Medical Director of Health Care Epidemiology and Infection Prevention.

Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN) continues to take unprecedented, temporary measures to keep our staff and patients safe during the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic.

Visitors are not permitted to accompany patients undergoing outpatient infusion or radiation oncology treatments except under these circumstances:

- If the patient requires assistance getting to the registration area, someone may escort the patient. Staff will then take the patient to receive treatment.

Reduced in-person office visits will result in furloughing more than 900 staff members in various positions at nearly 150 practice locations of Lehigh Valley Physician Group (LVPG), Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN) announced.

“We want to assure those affected and our community that this is temporary,” said Michael Rossi, MD, President, LVPG.

“These are furloughs and not layoffs, meaning those affected will retain their benefits. Some will be redeployed as needed and appropriate,” Rossi said.

Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN) male caregivers are being asked to shave their facial hair.

Some facial hairstyles compromise the effectiveness of the N-95 face mask, preventing a tight seal around the face.

An N-95 respirator and surgical mask are Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) that protect the wearer from airborne particles and from liquid contaminating the face and are critical during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.