PSR PA: Update on COVID-19 in PA

COVID-19 Pandemic

We dedicate this issue to the essential workers on the frontline of care and to all who support our society at a time of need.

Thank You!

Please check our PSR Website for COVID Information .

Visit WHO COVID-19 Update Page

Visit PA Department of Health Info Page

Visit CDC Update of COVID19 Page

Healthcare Provider Resources

Click here to give and receive masks, PPE and medical equipment.
Click here to receive PPE
Click here for information from the American Medical Association about critical steps for frontline healthcare workers.
Click here for information, resources and a physician's practice management toolkit from the American College of Physicians.

Local Care Resources in Philadelphia

Click here for information on how to support your local community, by donating money, food, PPE and volunteering.
Click here to view where you can find free food.
Click here for information on protections for victims of domestic abuse during COVID-19.
Click here to volunteer for the Philadelphia Medical Reserve Corps (MRC).

PSR Pennsylvania Issues Related to COVID-19

Violence Prevention

Philadelphia has seen a 22% rise in gun shootings despite reductions in other crimes. We are working with our many partners to bring health professionals together to address gun violence. Contact us to join the CodeRed PA Gun Violence Coalition. Four standing committees are Policy and Advocacy, Outreach and Training, Research, and Communication.

Environmental Health

In PA, Mariner East pipeline construction is permitted to continue at 17 sites across the state, despite the stay-at-home order. Read more here.
Pipeline construction across the nation has continued to plow on. This includes work on the Coastal GasLink Pipeline in Wet'suwet'en territory in British Columbia, Washington Gas's pipeline in Virginia, Dakota Access pipeline in Iowa, and many more. Whether this is a desperate attempt to hide economic downturn in the fossil fuel industry or more insidious reasons is unknown. Continuous construction of these projects threatens industrial workers, their families and host communities. Click here and here for more information.
The EPA announced a temporary enforcement discretion policy for civil violations during COVID-19. For example, the EPA does not expect to seek penalties for noncompliance with routine monitoring and reporting obligations of public water systems. However, it is expected that facilities continue to comply with regulatory requirements. Click here to learn more about the policy. Click here, here and here for discussions on how EPA's decision threatens public health, limits scientific research, politicizes the pandemic and bypasses democracy.

Volunteer with PSR PA

More Ways to Get Involved

Please fill out this volunteer application today Volunteer Application (Click here)!

TAKE ACTION to Protect Your Community!

Sign a national letter here for a Moratorium on Construction and Approval of Shale-Gas Pipeline Projects and LNG Export Facilities During COVID. This has been signed by over 200 organizations, opposing the unconventional gas development industry's non-life-sustaining toxic operations and rushed permitting process with no public input during the quarantine.
Follow PSR-PA on social media! We are working with local, state, national, and global coalitions to address the fossil fuel industry's hostile attempt to take advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic and will update on our progress. Click here to follow us on Facebook and here for our Twitter.

Important Notice from Tammy Murphy

PSR-PA's Medical Advocacy Directory

While we all practice social distancing, the fossil fuel industry is practicing disaster capitalism by continuing to drill and construct pipelines during a state stay at home order. This overactive fossil fuel profiteering threatens to spread COVID19, undermine democratic practices, and contribute to the ongoing climate crisis. Activists from across the United States have come together to form NoBigOilBailout.com

This site will track the toxic fossil fuel industry's misdeeds during the COVID-19 crisis and allow us to easily disseminate the information while we responsibly practice social distancing. Please help us spread the word about the website widely! If you have evidence that can help us track the fossil fuel industry misdeeds during the COVID-19 crisis, please submit your information in this form: https://forms.gle/eFjkMRwcJKAErG3v7 . Although the initial focus of this website is within the United States, global examples are a welcome addition!

Other Updates on PSR

Testimony at Philadelphia's City Council

On March 3, 2020, PSR Pennsylvania Boardmember Alex Bomstein provided testimony on behalf of the Clean Air Council at Philadelphia's City Council, urging stronger language to prevent the use of hydrofluoric acid in the city.

PSR Blogs

Philadelphia We Have A Problem ~ Lauren Footman

As information comes out daily around COVID-19, there are communities who are bracing for the disproportionate impact this will have on their families and neighborhoods. As someone who works in the gun violence prevention space, I have been grappling with how this pandemic will affect communities that are already most impacted by gun violence, which happen to be black communities. Unfortunately, communities that are most impacted are often plagued by structural inequities such as poverty, income inequality, underperforming schools, and under-resourced public services, which will compound this disproportionate impact.