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As the number of COVID-19 cases continues to increase in the area, a local business leader is calling for businesses and residents to step up their efforts to stop the spread.
Philip Devorris, president/CEO of The Blair Companies and chairman of the Blair County Chamber of Commerce CEO Executive Roundtable, has sent a letter to 35 members of the roundtable and 60 members of the chamber's Presidents Forum.
At issue is what health care workers call "COVID denial" -- which can take forms ranging from a belief that COVID-19 is no more serious than a routine cold or belief that face masks aren't effective at slowing the spread, to the idea that the pandemic is an elaborate hoax.
"The level of COVID disbelief is what we need to change in our community," Devorris said. "We can't afford as a community to have the hospitals get overwhelmed. We want to get the kids back in school as soon as possible; education is really suffering. We've got some businesses who have been able to modify operations to continue reasonably well, but there are others that have been decimated."
Devorris doesn't want to see area businesses shut down again, but he's not downplaying the effects of the virus's spread.
"It is about doing anything you can do that has a minimal impact on the business community. Doing things like avoiding crowds, wearing masks, washing hands. Hopefully by doing that, we can start getting back to normal and have the schools open. Saying COVID is a hoax and is not as bad as people are saying it is, is making it a lot worse."
In his letter, Devorris said COVID-19 has brought many changes to people's lives.
"For my part, I recall progressing from cautiously sending people home in March, to quickly bringing them back to lambasting our governor's one-size-fits-all approach to business closures when our local positive rates were still very low," he said.
"But local rates have changed dramatically over the past month. Now is the time to tighten things up in our community to slow the spread."
Changes have been made at The Blair Companies.
"For our part, Blair has reinstituted temperature checks prior to entering our facilities, while further increasing our remote work, mask use and meeting restrictions," Devorris said. "For the first time in my life, my sister and I celebrated Thanksgiving apart, each with our immediate families. Remind everyone that our health care system's capacity is limited, and that even small changes in our personal routines can make a difference."
The chamber is doing its best to keep apprised of how the increase in COVID-19 numbers in our region is impacting health care providers, businesses and the employees who have been so instrumental in keeping those businesses viable, said President/CEO Joe Hurd.
"The reports that have surfaced in recent weeks, which attribute the uptick in our COVID numbers to the unwillingness of the people in our county to follow the guidelines for health and safety, if true, are discouraging," he said. "From a business standpoint, they compromise the recovery efforts of those businesses that are still attempting to bounce back from the economic hardships of the past several months."
Complicating the situation for businesses was last week's veto by Gov. Tom Wolf of legislation that would have lessened liability on businesses involving COVID-19, Hurd said.
"That creates unnecessary peril at a time when businesses are looking to survive," he said. "It unfairly puts in jeopardy the large majority of businesses that have bent over backwards to be compliant."
Jan Fisher, president of UPMC Altoona and UPMC Bedford, also sent a letter to hospital board members, Mayor Matt Pacifico, Altoona City Council members and other community business leaders.
In her letter, Fisher said the hospital's staff is well- prepared with the right supplies, including personal protective equipment.
"We have robust plans in place across UPMC to scale up our capacity and manage the health care needs of our communities, including sharing resources and transferring patients to nearby hospitals like UPMC Somerset, our partner Pittsburgh or central Pennsylvania hospitals," Fisher wrote. "One of the strongest ways we can all support frontline heroes right now is educating our communities that masking works. You, our community leaders, can help our health care workers by spreading the word about these proven virus spread mitigation tactics.
John Brown, president of Hoss's Steak and Sea House Inc., agrees with Devorris' ideas.
"We have to be responsible and focus on ways to keep our restaurants open and keep our employees and customers safe," Brown said. "We are not happy about the restrictions but are following them to the letter and want to see the spread slow down and stop so people can get their lives back. Our hope is that we (our business) stay alive long enough to get to the other side (of the pandemic)."
The situation in the area is pretty serious, said President/COO Travis Sheetz of Altoona-based convenience store chain Sheetz Inc.
"This is our hometown area," he said. "We were fortunate in the first wave in the spring. It was not as serious here. We are following the CDC safety guidelines, that is what we are asking our employees to do," Sheetz said. "We are concerned about them because of their exposure level. We are doing everything we can to keep them protected. We are very active. We have a lot of precautions in place, wearing masks, washing hands. When we have a positive case in the store, and we have had some, they are quarantined at home and we take care of them. We are trying to be proactive."