President Joe Biden is expected to lay out a six-pillar plan to curb COVID-19 and the Delta variant on Thursday evening.

Those close to the President say that the priorities are as follows:

1.Vaccinating the unvaccinated

2.Further protection for the vaccinated

3.Keeping schools open

4.Increasing testing and masking requirements

5.Economic Recovery

6.Improving care

The plan follows a concerning trend nationwide with hospitalizations up and case counts on the rise.

Still some local officials are attempting to strike a more optimistic tone.

Lancaster County Emergency Management Director Philip Colvin says that experience will be critical should another surge challenge our area.

“Everyone has experience. The healthcare system has experience,” said Colvin. “We know what we need to do on the Emergency Management side, we have a better idea of what public safety agencies need to do.”

Colvin says that the county will need to keep an eye on PPE after shelling out most of the stock-pile to other agencies.

“I think our level of preparedness and the way we’re going into this winter with less unknowns is going to help even if it’s still a challenge,” said Colvin.

Colvin says official information on case numbers, hospitalizations, etc would need to come from area health systems but did add that he hasn’t seen anything that should cause concern for area parents with school-aged children.