Gov. Wolf pushing to expand data to include impact on LGBTQ community
by PublicSource Reporters
UPMC physicians told state lawmakers Wednesday that keeping schools shuttered to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus was a blunter approach than identifying – as physicians do in a medical setting – those most at risk.
“We don’t think, over the long haul, that [keeping schools closed is] a very sustainable approach,” said Dr. Donald M. Yealy, chairman of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center’s Department of Emergency Medicine.
Yealy and Dr. Steven D. Shapiro, UMPC chief medical and scientific officer, spoke to senators during a May 13 joint hearing of the senate’s Aging & Youth and Local Government committees on Wednesday.
The nearly hour-and-a-half-long hearing streamed online, and followed testimony state Education Secretary Pedro A. Rivera gave on Monday to the senate Education Committee. in which he said he expected schools to reopen in the fall.
To keep children safe while there is no protection against the pathogen, Yealy said school officials could adopt testing measures and provide “a different environment” for pupils and teachers with underlying health issues that could make them susceptible to the disease.
“Our goal is that the schools will be able to open in the fall,” Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said Wednesday, in a separate press conference.
“We can’t test our way out of this,” Yealy added. While testing can provide critical information to better understand the virus, it shouldn’t replace social distancing efforts, good hand hygiene and face masks, which should be worn over the nose, the doctors said.
Also Wednesday, Gov. Tom Wolf announced that COVID-19 data collection will now include information on cases in the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer [LGBTQ] community. The Pennsylvania Health Department, which is using a new data collection platform, has requested the state’s six health organizations, including the Allegheny County Health Department, begin capturing sexual orientation and gender identify or expression in electronic health records when reporting COVID-19 data.
The inclusion of LGBTQ COVID patients was a result of a recommendation by the Health Disparity Task Force announced in April and chaired by Lt. Gov. John Fetterman.
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FEATURED IMAGE: Dr. Donald M. Yealy, chairman of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center’s Department of Emergency Medicine, testifies to two state senate committees in a joint hearing held online, and captured in this screenshot.
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