In the News

To stop workers from contracting COVID-19 and spreading it to their families, U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-8, Moosic, asked federal inspectors to go to three large employers near Hazleton.

“That will happen,” Cartwright said during a news conference with Hazleton Mayor Jeff Cusat this morning.

Cartwright said to his mind, inspectors whom he requested from the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration are the world leaders in their field.

He wants to ensure that workplaces maintain guidelines set by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“What we worry about is that our people are keeping proper social distancing,” Cartwright said.

He noted that inspectors from Hazle Twp. also have begun inspecting facilities in their industrial park.

Earlier today, Hazle Twp. officials and others in the Mountain Council of Governments that covers Greater Hazleton joined in a regional effort organized by state Sen. John Yudichak, I-Swoyersville, to enforce codes at industrial parks.

The effort includes South Mountain Council of Governments and will ensure that businesses with 50,000 square feet or more comply with the sanitation regulations that state Health Secretary Rachel Levine set on Monday.