NORTHAMPTON COUNTY

BALLOT-ON-DEMAND: The Northampton County Elections Office announces that Ballot-on-Demand voting for the general election is available at the Government Center, 669 Washington Street, Easton, from now until Oct. 27. The Elections Office is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m.– 4:30 p.m. Extended hours will be available beginning Oct. 1: Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. – 8 p.m. and on Saturday from 8 a.m. – Noon.

Residents of Northampton County who are eligible to vote can come to the Elections Office, register if they have not already, fill out a ballot application, vote and turn it in. Showing ID is required before receiving your ballot.

CORONER’S REPORT: As of Septe. 15, data collected by the Northampton County Coroner shows that 283 people have passed away due to COVID-19 in Northampton County (254 Northampton County residents, 29 residents of other counties and states).

As of July 14, the Lehigh County Coroner released data of 55 COVID-19 related deaths of Northampton County residents.

Residents: Allen Twp., 1; Bangor, 2; Bath,1; Bethlehem Twp., 59; City of Bethlehem, 31; City of Easton, 39; Forks Twp., 6; Freemansburg, 1; Hanover Twp., 1; Hellertown, 11; Lehigh Twp., 2; Lower Nazareth Twp., 3; Lower Saucon Twp., 2; Moore, 1; Nazareth, 2; Northampton, 3; Palmer Twp., 32; Plainfield Twp., 1; Tatamy, 1; Upper Nazareth Twp., 82; Washington Twp., 21; Williams Twp., 3; Wilson, 3; Wind Gap, 1.

Non-residents: Astoria, NY, 1; Bronx, NY, 1; Bucks County, 4; City of Allentown, 4; Glen Garden, N.J., 1; Lehigh Co., 2; Lopatcong Twp. NJ, 1; Lower Macungie Twp., 1; Millersburg, PA, 1; Monroe County, 6; Montgomery County, 1; Phillipsburg, NJ, 2; Schuylkill County, 1; South Whitehall Twp., 1; Upper Macungie Twp., 1; Washington NJ, 1.

Demographic data for 283 deaths reported by the Northampton County Coroner:

The ages of the deceased range from 29 to 106 years.

Average age of the deceased is 83.1 years

Gender – 53 percent Female, 47 percent Male

Race: 88 percent White, 6 percent African American, 2 percent Asian, 4 percent Hispanic

Demographic data for 55 deaths reported by the Lehigh County Coroner

The ages of the deceased range from 43 to 98 years.

Average age of the deceased is 77.3 years

Gender – 44 percent Female, 56 percent Male

Race: 80 percent White, 16 percent Hispanic, 2 percent African American, 2 percent Filipino, 0 percent Asian

LEHIGH VALLEY

STATE COVID-19 GRANTS: Lehigh Valley Zoological Society Accredited Zoo, Lehigh and Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites General Museum, Northampton, were among cultural organizations and museums to receiving funding through the COVID-19 Cultural and Museum Preservation Grant Program to offset lost revenue caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The zoo got $140,460 and Historic Bethlehem Museum and Sites got $ 57,824.

Under the program, funds may be used to offset lost revenue for eligible cultural organizations and museums that were subject to closure by the proclamation of disaster emergency issued by the governor on March 6, 2020, and any renewal of the state of disaster emergency and that experienced a loss of revenue related to the closure. Funds cannot be used to offset revenue which has already been offset from other sources, including philanthropic and federal, state, and local government sources.

PENNSYLVANIA

COVID-19 ALERT PA: The Pennsylvania Department of Health has announced a pilot program for a new COVID-19 exposure-notification mobile app, COVID Alert PA, available to smart-phone users this month.

The app is designed to help bolster the state’s contact-tracing efforts.

The department of health is partnering with Delaware, NearForm, University of Pennsylvania and MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory, Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and Internet Privacy Research Institute to build the mobile app that will alert individuals of possible exposure if they have been in a close contact with a COVID-19 positive individual.

Find the COVID Alert PA app for free to download in the Google Play Store or Apple App Store.

This app is voluntary, but the more Pennsylvanians age 18 and older who adopt the app, the more successful efforts can be.

During a COVID-19 case investigation interview, public health staff will ask if they have the app available and provide a six-digit validation code the app user can upload and confirm their COVID-19 diagnosis.

After the validation is completed, the app will use a push notification and send out an Exposure Alert to any individuals who came in close contact with someone who was diagnosed with COVID-19.

The app does not enable any location services and is designed to be completely anonymous.

This app will further support the more than 1,200 trained contact tracers throughout the state, including 130 state health nurses and county and municipal health departments, leading and conducting COVID-19 contact tracing efforts.

More information on the state’s contact tracing efforts is available at health.pa.gov.

In addition, the app will provide users with the latest information on COVID-19 in Pennsylvanian from the department’s data dashboard.

LIQUOR CONTROL BOARD: Pennsylvania State Police Liquor Control Enforcement Officers visited 549 licensed liquor establishments from Sept. 16 through 17 to ensure businesses are abiding by COVID-19 mitigation requirements that include social distancing, masking, and other health and safety requirements of the liquor code. Liquor Control Enforcement Officers issued two notices of violation and 11 warnings for failing to follow COVID-19 requirements.

RESTAURANTS: Governor Tom Wolf and Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine signed new orders Sept. 17 following the recent announcement that restaurants may increase indoor occupancy to 50 percent starting Monday, Sept. 21. The order requires that serving alcohol for on-site consumption must end at 11 p.m. which started Monday, and all alcoholic beverages must be removed from patrons by midnight. This applies to both restaurants that do not self-certify to increase to 50 percent and those that choose to stay at 25 percent. There is no change to the requirements for the temporary sale of cocktails-to-go and take out alcohol sales from bars, restaurants or hotels with a liquor license.

The recently announced self-certification process will enable restaurants to increase indoor occupancy to 50 percent while adhering to mitigation efforts that will keep employees and customers safe. Starting Sept. 21, restaurants could begin submitting their self-certification documents to an Open & Certified Pennsylvania database. ?

The Wolf administration has released Frequently Asked Questions as a reference for restaurant owners and the public, along with updated restaurant guidance.

Restaurant owners with additional questions about the self-certification program can contact covidselfcert@pa.gov.

RESTAURANT ENFORCEMENT: From Sept. 7 through 13, the Bureau of Food Safety performed 520 total inspections, 27 of which were complaint-driven; 12 were COVID-19 specific complaints. The bureau distributed 36 COVID-19 complaint-driven educational letters. Five COVID-19 related complaints were referred to local and county health jurisdictions. Two formal Warning Letters were issued.

A county by county breakdown of COVID-19 restaurant enforcement actions can be found on the Department of Agriculture’s website. The data will be updated weekly, with data from the previous week.

SUPREME COURT RULING: A Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling Sept. 17 grants the Democratic Party’s request to order an extension of mail-in ballots to be counted for three days after Election Day. A separate ruling also kicked off the ballot the Green Party’s presidential candidate, Howie Hawkins, for not abiding by the proper procedure to get on the ballot.

EVICTION RELIEF: U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) released the following statement to announce that Pennsylvania will receive $1.988 billion in new funding from Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) as a result of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act for eviction relief:

The allocation (CDBG-CV3) focuses funds towards places with households facing higher risk of eviction. The funds can be used to provide temporary financial assistance to meet rental obligations for up to 6 months and are focused toward places with households facing higher risk of eviction. Specifically:

LICENSE TO CARRY DEADLINE: The Pennsylvania State Police announced that Governor Tom Wolf has granted an additional extension to license to carry firearms permits. Permits expiring on March 19, 2020 or later are now valid through Dec. 31, 2020. The previous extension was set to expire on Sept. 30.

The extension of license to carry permit expiration dates is necessary due to the closure of some county courthouses and sheriff’s offices, as well as other ongoing COVID-19 mitigation efforts.

DANGEROUS EMAILS: The Department of Labor & Industry is advising organizations that interact with its Bureau of Workforce Development to be on the lookout for email messages impersonating staff. The messages contain links or attachments with malicious software that could infect computers or steal personal information.