Northampton County Council approved three resolutions at their July 16, 2020 meeting which were proposed by Lamont McClure as part of his Pandemic Protection Plan. Act 24, signed by Governor Wolf, provides $625 million in CARES Act money to Pennsylvania counties. Northampton County received $27.5 million in funds which can be used for programs to offset the costs of response, outreach and planning efforts related to COVID-19, to support businesses with fewer than 100 employees and to increase broadband access in unserved or underserved areas.

“I want to thank Northampton County Council for their support of these programs and grants,” says Lamont McClure. “The pandemic has not only affected the health of our residents, it is negatively impacting our economy. The County of Northampton is committed to protecting both public health and our businesses.”

Northampton County Council passed a resolution to award $825,000 in grants for broadband access. Grants of $100,000 each will go to the school districts of Bethlehem, Easton, Bangor, Northampton and Nazareth. Grants of $50,000 each will go to the schools districts of Wilson, Saucon Valley and Pen Argyl. Northampton County Department of Human Services (DHS) will use $175,000 to purchase Wi-Fi annual vouchers and electronic equipment for underserved senior citizens and veterans within the county.

Council approved $300,000 for a drive-through COVID-19 testing site for Northampton County residents displaying at least one symptom of the Coronavirus. Lamont McClure and Northampton County DCED organized a partnership with Lehigh Valley Hospital-Coordinated Health Allentown Hospital (LVH-CHA) to set up the site which will be located at 3100 Emrick Blvd. Bethlehem, PA 18020. Hours of operation will be Monday through Friday from 10:00AM – 4:00PM. The site will open in a few weeks.

A Physician’s order is not required but, to be eligible for testing, individuals must report or display one or more CDC-recognized symptoms of COVID-19: fever, dry cough, shortness of breath, chills, muscle pain, headache, sore throat or loss of taste and/or smell. The drive-through testing site is open to everyone, but only residents of Northampton County are eligible to have the cost covered by the County if they do not have health coverage. All testing will be through HNL Lab Medicine unless insurance requires an alternate laboratory. Participants should bring a photo ID and their insurance card, if they have one, with them to the testing site.

Northampton County Council approved a resolution to allocate $200,000 in CARES Act funds for a proactive testing program for COVID-19 at the Northampton County Prison. On July 7, 2020, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended universal testing for jails and prisons. The Department of Corrections will coordinate with Prime Care Medical to develop a plan to test inmates and staff.