Local officials get update on COVID cases

Total number of positive cases in Mifflin County up to 45

LEWISTOWN--The Mifflin County commissioners got an COVID-19 update from Phil Lucas, director of emergency services during their regular meeting Thursday morning. Lucas said as of Wednesday there were 45 positive cases in Mifflin County. As for the surrounding counties Lucas said Centre County has 113 cases with one death, Juniata County has 86 cases with one death, Huntingdon County has 60 cases and Snyder county has 33 positive cases with one death.

As far as area hospitals, Lucas reported that Geisinger-Lewistown is currently taking care of two COVID-19 patients with both being on ventilators. Mount Nittany Medical Center in Centre County is currently treating five patients and J. C. Blair Memorial Hospital in Huntingdon County has six patients with four being on ventilators.

Lucas went on to say that the surprising numbers that are coming out are from the prisons. According to totals released Thursday morning, the State Correctional Institution at Rock View in Centre County has two corrections officers who tested positive for COVID-19. However, SCI Huntingdon reported 32 corrections officers and 108 prisoners tested positive for the virus. The number of positive cases among prisoners jumped by 82 from the total of 26 reported Wednesday.

"We are currently working regionally with the Department of Health and the Department of Corrections in planning how we are going to deal with these shocking numbers from SCI Huntingdon," Lucas said. "It is the correctional institution with the most prisoners that are infected. Because of the rural nature of our area, we are making plans that those prisoners who do need hospitalized wind up being transported to the Altoona area, Mount Nittany Medical Center and eventually they'll be coming here to Mifflin County at Geisinger-Lewistown Hospital."

It's likely most of the patients will be going to UPMC facilities in western Pennsylvania and possibly, because of capacity issues, more and more prisoners will be transported further west toward Pittsburgh, according to Lucas.

Hospitals in the region that are currently affected are positioned very well.

"Most of the hospitals are moving towards opening up to full services, allowing elective surgeries, things like that." Lucas said. "There are designated areas within the hospitals that are set for COVID patients that are essentially empty with one or two patients each. So we do have the capacity to deal with that. Adversely, it may wind up affecting our region long-term when our it's moved to 'yellow' as opposed to staying in 'red.'"

Following Lucas's presentation, commissioner Kevin Kodish gave an update on the upcoming primary election to be held June 2nd. Mifflin County is working on consolidating several of it's voting precincts. Kodish said once the consolidations are finalized the information will be given to all media outlets and voters affected will be notified by mail.

Mifflin County has 26 voter precincts and looking to reduce that number to 15 or 16 voter precincts, according to Kodish. The board is currently investigating options and hope to have it finalized in the next couple of days.

"We don't expect that to cause turmoil at the polls because with the new mail-in option our election office have received well over 2,000 applications for mail-in ballots," Kodish said. "A lot of people are taking advantage of that."

Kodish gave information on mail-in and absentee voting for anyone wishing to take that option. Mail-in or absentee ballot applications can be completed online at Votespa.com. Applications can be printed from the site.

Applications can also be requested from the Department of State by emailing a request to ra-voterreg@pa.gov or by calling 1-877-VOTESPA. The voter registration department tab on the Mifflin County website (www.co.mifflin.pa.us) also has applications available to print. Applications can be mailed by calling the Mifflin County Courthouse's voter and registration department at 717-248-6571 and selecting option one. Anyone wishing to pick up a copy may go to the Mifflin County courthouse where they have applications available in the foyer. The courthouse remains closed to the public.

Mail-in applications are for no excuse absentee voting. Absentee applications are only for people who will be absent from the municipality or have a physical disability preventing them from going to the polls. Anyone choosing to become a permanent mail-in or absentee voter will receive a ballot for the primary and the general election and in the following years you will automatically receive a mail-in or absentee application.

The last day to register to vote in the primary is May 18. The last day to apply for a mail-in or absentee is May 26. The elections office plans to have the majority of the mail-in ballots sent out by the end of next week. Mail-in ballots can be returned through the mail, or in person at the courthouse until 8:00 p.m. on election day. Only the voter can bring in their own ballot. Voters cannot bring in someone else's ballot.

For more information on mail-in and absentee ballots a Department of State webinar is available each Tuesday from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. May 5th through May 26th. Participants must register in advance and this information has been posted on Mifflin County Alerts Facebook page and the Mifflin County Elections pages, the Mifflin County website under 'news and announcements'. The information is also posted the Department of State website at votespa.com.

Kodish said the state and county will be providing poll workers with gloves, disinfectant, masks and hand sanitizer on election day. Kodish said with the amount of mail-in ballots requested they do not expect the polls to be as busy. Voters are asked to be respectful of the poll workers as many fall into the high-risk category, maintain social distancing guidelines, as well as wear a masks while voting. It is also suggested to bring your own black ink pen.

During the meeting, the commissioners signed a proclamation declaring May 17 – 23, 2020 as EMS Week. The commissioners also signed a proclamation recognizing May as Motorcycle Safety and Awareness Month.