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89 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Luzerne County on Sunday

WILKES-BARRE &mdash; Megan Stachowiak, Research analyst at The Institute for Public Policy & Economic Development at Wilkes University, said while the region is still in the midst of dealing with the pandemic, an analysis of how we can be better prepared to respond to future potential emergencies is already underway.
				Stachowiak said as the nation continues to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, some regions are being more adversely impacted than others.
				She said many factors contribute to the severity of the impact, including how widespread the virus is, the capacity of the healthcare system to address the outbreak, the demographics and overall health characteristics of the population, and the ability of the region to sustain the resulting economic downturn.
				&ldquo;Part of this analysis includes measuring a community&rsquo;s resilience, or the capacity of a community to endure, respond to and recover from emergencies or disasters, according to the U.S. Census Bureau,&rdquo; Stachowiak said. &ldquo;Recently released experimental Community Resilience Estimates (CRE) from the Census Bureau are designed to help with this assessment, by providing a tool that shows risk levels by state, county and census tract.&ldquo;
				Using information on individuals and households from the 2018 American Community Survey (ACS), the Census Bureau&rsquo;s Population Estimates, and publicly available health condition rates from the 2018 National Center for Health Statistics National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), Stachowiak said the experimental tool from the U.S. Census Bureau identifies the regions most at risk of not being able to endure the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic.
				The risk factors used in the model include: lack of health insurance, age 65 and above, low-income household, single member household, household communication barrier, employment status, disability status, physical crowding, and health conditions including respiratory disease, heart disease and diabetes. The factors within the model can also be modified to estimate the impact from a broad range of disasters in order to prepare mitigation strategies.
				Individuals and communities with at least 30 percent of their population with three or more risk factors are considered to be high risk. Preliminary results of the Community Resilience Estimates indicate that the southern region of the United States has the most communities that are high risk, with around one-third of counties in the South identified as high risk. The other regions of the United States have fewer counties identified as high-risk, including the West (15 percent), Northeast (7 percent) and Midwest (6 percent).
				&ldquo;In Pennsylvania, Luzerne County (30 percent) stands out as one of only three counties in the state, and the only one in the Northeast region, with 30 percent or more of residents with three or more risk factors,&rdquo; Stachowiak said.
				The other counties are Philadelphia County (39 percent) and Forest County in northwestern PA (35 percent). The county average in Pennsylvania for residents with three or more risk factors is 25 percent. Lackawanna County falls slightly below the high risk threshold, but exceeds the statewide average, with 28 percent of residents with three or more risk factors.
				Maps by census tract show where the highest concentrations are of residents with risk factors in each county. In Lackawanna County, the communities with the highest concentrations of residents with three or more risk factors are located in the downtown and south side sections of Scranton.
				In Luzerne County, the communities with the highest concentrations of residents with three or more risk factors are located in sections of Wilkes-Barre, Hazleton, West Hazleton and Plymouth
				&ldquo;As we looked towards recovering from the impacts of the pandemic, the Community Resilience Estimates and other data sources can help stakeholders identify areas that may be most vulnerable to recovering from the pandemic&rsquo;s health, social and economic impacts,&rdquo; Stachowiak said. &ldquo;This information can be used to identify target areas where resources should be focused to help mitigate the impacts, and also be used to prepare future disaster preparedness efforts.&rdquo;

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