Mar 28, 2020 2 min read

With the number COVID-19 cases in Greene County increasing, officials established a task force Thursday to coordinate their response to the crisis.

The task force includes the county commissioners, county emergency management agency, representatives from Washington Health System and local EMS services.

The task force, according to Greene County Commissioner Mike Belding, allows for the county to have a direct line of communication to state Sen. Camera Bartolotta and state Rep. Pam Snyder to relay county needs to Harrisburg.

“It’s preemptive in nature. As long as everything is going smoothly, and we have the supplies available and hospital beds, it’s just an information flow,” Belding said. “If we need an expedited shipment, we want those state representatives to have already been made aware, so it’s not a surprise or an emergency.”

Belding said there is currently enough personal protective equipment and hospital beds in Greene County. Though he expects that they will see an increase in coronavirus cases, he does not expect there will be shortages.

“An advantage of being as rural and dispersed as we are, we think there’s a natural flattening of the curve … There is hospital room capacity right now. That’s not even an emerging concern at this point,” Belding said.

Washington County officials established a similar task force soon after the first presumptive positive case of the coronavirus was announced on March 13.

“On (March 14) we convened a meeting with 10 of our key staff and put together a team that will be the team moving forward,” said county Commissioner Diana Irey Vaughan.

That committee includes a total of 11 people across county government, including Director of Public Safety Jeff Yates, Sheriff Samuel Romano, Director of Finance Joshua Hatfield and Director of Children and Youth Services Kim Rogers.

“Everyone has their own responsibilities,” Irey Vaughan said, adding that Yates is in communication with local hospitals, EMS and municipal governments.

Irey Vaughan says they are also checking with senior centers, nonprofits and school districts to assess what the needs are across the county.

Yates and John Haynes, chief of staff for the commissioners, serve as liaisons between the officials and provides daily updates.