Casey to headline next COVID-19 forum; state, local officials will also speak

Joshua Byers, The Tribune-Democrat, Johnstown, Pa.
·1 min read

Mar. 6—Local leaders from the federal, state, county and city levels will be featured at the next COVID Questions forum on Tuesday.

Panelists include U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, state Rep. Jim Rigby, Cambria County Emergency Management Agency coordinator Art Martynuska, Somerset County Commissioner Pamela Tokar-Ickes and Johnstown City Councilwoman the Rev. Sylvia King.

King is looking forward to sharing her experience with the disease. She contracted it after New Year's Day and spent eight days in the hospital.

"COVID itself is such a massive problem," King said.

Since battling her illness, King has felt called to share her story to "help anyone make a decision so that they can avoid what I have gone through."

"I appreciate the opportunity to be able to testify," she said. "A person's testimony can help somebody else. I knew that was my assignment while I was lying in that hospital bed."

The forum, organized by In This Together Cambria, The Tribune-Democrat and the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, will begin at 7 p.m. on Zoom. Participants can join by visiting https://pitt.zoom.us/j/96156145654.

Tuesday's virtual town hall will also be live-streamed at the In This Together Cambria Facebook page, www.facebook.com/inthistogethercambria.

This is the eighth forum in the COVID Questions series. Upcoming forums include a March 23 gathering on the economic impact of the pandemic and an April 6 event on how it has affected education.

In This Together Cambria is a volunteer group focused on storytelling, advocacy and sharing of information to combat the novel coronavirus pandemic. Recordings of forums, resources and more can be found at www.inthistogethercambria.com.