NORTHAMPTON COUNTY

COUNTY PRISON: The Director of Corrections reports that currently there are no cases of COVID-19 among the inmates at the Northampton County Prison. Since the start of the pandemic, 191 inmates have tested positive and all have finished their quarantine periods or are no longer at NCP. Sixty-six Department of Corrections staff have tested positive for the virus since the start of the pandemic. Sixty-five have finished their quarantine periods and returned to work. Fourteen vendor employees at NCP have tested positive since the start of the pandemic. All have finished their quarantine periods and returned to work.

Since March 2020, NCP has conducted 3,806 tests for COVID-19 on inmates. All new inmates receive a test when they come into the facility before they are transferred to General Population; residents are tested on a random basis.

There are currently 584 inmates in residence at NCP.

CORONOR’S REPORT: Between January 1st and August 15, 2021, the Northampton County Coroner recorded 176 COVID-19 related deaths in Northampton County (146 Residents/30 Non-Residents). The last COVID-19 related death was recorded on August 15th. As of May 3, 2021, the Lehigh County Coroner reported 66 deaths of Northampton County residents. Between the two counties, 212 deaths of Northampton County residents from COVID-19 have been reported this year.

“Currently, the CDC has ranked the level of COVID-19 transmission in Northampton County as ‘High,’’” says Lamont McClure. “I encourage everyone who can to get vaccinated and, if they develop symptoms, get tested and quarantine to prevent further spread of the virus.”

In 2020, the Northampton County Coroner reported 403 COVID-19 related deaths (359 residents and 44 non-residents). The Lehigh County Coroner reported 118 deaths for a total of 477 COVID-19-related deaths for Northampton County residents in 2020.

NATIONAL

VACCINE MANDATE: Although there is no legal obligation to share your vaccination status with everyone who may ask, this information might be required in certain circumstances. In a similar way that schools ask for details about childhood vaccinations, companies might inquire about employees’ vaccine status as a matter of health and safety for other people who work in the workplace. Even though vaccinated employees are less likely to get seriously ill, it’s still possible for them to become infected with the coronavirus as they return to the workplace.

iprospectcheck.com, a background check and screening solution company, conducted a survey (3,000 employees) and found that over half (54 percent) of Pennsylvania employees think it should be a mandatory requirement to disclose your vaccine status to your employer. This compares to a national average of 57%.

Those in Massachusetts and Hawaii were most supportive of this idea, with 79 percent of employees here saying improper disclosure of vaccine status should result in disciplinary action. By comparison, employees in Louisiana seemed slightly more apprehensive of disclosing this information at work, but 31% were still in agreement.

It appears many employees take the disclosure of vaccine status very seriously as nearly half (42 percent) say they should have the right to take legal action against their employer if there are inadequate safeguards against unvaccinated colleagues at work. Nearly 1 in 5 (16 percent) even believe improper disclosure of vaccine status should lead to disciplinary action up to and including termination of the employee. 14 percent think improper disclosure should lead to employee suspension.

To maintain a high level of safety, over half (55 percent) of employees think it should be mandatory for all staff to take daily COVID tests in the workplace as a precaution.

Lastly, it was also found that 42 percent of employees would be more concerned about sharing a workplace with an unvaccinated colleague than one who has a lengthy criminal record.