As some state, county and municipal officials press for more detailed geographic information on where COVID-19 cases and deaths are occurring, the state Health Department has agreed to release municipal information to Emergency Medical Services personnel, possibly as early as the end of this week, but it will not make this information public.

Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine said that the state also hopes to add a breakdown by race and gender at some point; however, she said that there needs to be a balance between the public’s right to know and an individual and family’s right to privacy. Along with this additional information, the department will continue releasing daily countywide totals with a breakdown by age group.

Although some officials in other states are releasing more specific geographic information to the public, most are not, explaining that it is a complicated issue that has to do with confidentiality and public-shaming concerns.

Among the five counties in the Times News area, Northampton and Lehigh are identifying the municipalities where coronavirus deaths have occurred.

Northampton County Executive Lamont McClure said the information is being released to give residents the most transparent amount of information permitted by law and in keeping with sound epidemiological standards.

McClure said that the county will release death information from the coroner’s office on its Facebook page, but this will include just those who have died within the county. As of Monday, Northampton County had reported 23 deaths from the coronavirus. Two of the deaths were out-of-county residents.

McClure said he and other officials agonized over whether to publish this information and said he will reserve the right to end the practice if it appears that it is “doing more harm than good.”

He said the objective of pinpointing deaths by municipality gives the public needed information without becoming too specific and identifying affected individuals.

Lehigh County had reported 19 deaths, including eight at a Lower Macungie Township nursing home. State and federal officials have expressed concern that the Lehigh Valley may become a “hot spot.”

Monroe County Coroner Thomas A. Yanac Jr. has taken the opposite position and said that he would not release any information about COVID-19 deaths. Monroe has the highest death toll per capita in the state with 24. Several calls to Yanac for an explanation of his policy were not returned.

The Carbon-Schuylkill area has shown far fewer deaths than the other three counties - three in Carbon and two in Schuylkill.

Carbon County commissioners, who had aired their concerns a week ago about the lack of additional information on where cases are occurring in the county, expressed relief at the Health Department’s change of heart.

Commissioner Chris Lukasevich had said the lack of this knowledge could put first responders at even more risk. The implication is that if they know they are going into a community “hot spot,” they can take extra precautions on top of those they normally practice.

Commissioners’ Chairman Wayne Nothstein told Times News county reporter Amy Miller that when the state begins to provide this information to EMS personnel, the county will be able to alert first responders where cases are. “We don’t have to know the names, just the locations,” Nothstein said.

Two local state legislators, Sen. John Yudichak, I-Luzerne/Carbon, and Rep. Doyle Heffley, R-Carbon, had lobbied the state Health Department asking for a more detailed breakdown of the cases. Heffley sent a follow-up letter asking Levine to provide the county with a breakdown of cases by ZIP code. While none of the officials was advocating general public disclosure, many residents believe specific municipal information should be released, just as Northampton and Lehigh have done.

At the municipal level, there is no consistent reporting mechanism, so officials are pretty much able to handle disclosures as they see fit. In western Pennsylvania, for example, Clairton Mayor Rich Lattanzi confirmed in a Facebook post that one of the people who died in Allegheny County was from his community. Although Lattanzi did not identify the victim, he understands that in a borough of just 6,600, word spreads quickly, and he implored his residents to respect the family’s privacy.

Because of the fear associated with the pandemic, officials are concerned that victims will be stigmatized by their communities. Northampton’s McClure knows this and said he did not want to inadvertently discourage those in need from seeking medical help.

Because some believe this novel coronavirus originated in China, there has been a growing number of instances where Asian Americans have been subjected to bullying, social shunning and ridicule. With the recent disclosure that a disproportionate number of African-Americans have become afflicted because of pre-virus condition susceptibilities such as high blood pressure, diabetes, inadequate health care and economic factors, there is a fear that they, too, might be subjected to community harassment.

By Bruce Frassinelli | tneditor@tnonline.com