The first priority is health.

But, after that, Pennsylvania legislators are looking to the health of the economy.

The first death of a Warren County resident from COVID-19 was reported by the Pennsylvania Department of Health on Tuesday.

“I know people are extremely concerned,” State Rep. Kathy Rapp (R-65) said Tuesday evening. “Nobody wants to see this disease spread. Any death is a concern. This is definitely an issue.”

“At the same time, we are very concerned about the possibility of our economy collapsing in the midst of this without allowing people to go to work,” Rapp said. “20 percent of our workforce is unemployed and on unemployment. We’re extremely worried about our economy.”

Both houses of the legislature have passed bills recently that would ease the business closings mandated by Gov. Tom Wolf. “They all have language in those bills that businesses must follow guidelines, the same as all of the stores that are open,” Rapp said. “Obviously, we want people to go to work safely.”

Rapp, and the legislators who voted for the bills, want to see businesses allowed to reopen while taken reasonable and responsible health precautions.

“We want people to stay safe,” she said. “We also believe that we can work safely. Whether it’s in my office or anybody else’s, we want to make sure people are safe.”

Rapp and a group of representatives sent a letter to Department of Health Secretary Rachel Levine specifically regarding hospitals.

The legislators asked that the department “establish a protocol for our hospitals and health care systems to immediately being performing elective surgical procedures in those counties who have not had a significant impact of the coronavirus…”

“There’s a lot of concern among the legislators that our hospitals need to go back to be able to do elective procedures,” Rapp, who is the chair of the House Health Committee, said. “I am sending a letter (co-signed by representatives Mike Turzai, Bryan Cutler, Stan Saylor, Donna Oberlander, Clint Owlett, Stephanie Borowicz, and Jim Cox) requesting that they look at the lower-risk communities and where the virus does not have as high an impact.”

The request is to “allow them to do elective surgeries,” she said. “That is what keeps them in the black.”

The letter cites “razor-thin margins” and hospitals in counties that have few or no cases.

“Many counties have no deaths, yet they are treated the same as counties who have hundreds of cases diagnosed daily,” according to the letter. “With no rush of coronavirus patients and almost no hospitalizations for COVID-19, it makes little sense to continue the ban on elective surgical procedures that may not be urgent but are necessary for these patients. These elective procedures would bring in much needed revenue to the hospitals and allow for the use of their facilities for non-COVID-19 procedures.”

“Hospital and health care practitioners are perfectly situated to provide these services in a safe and effective manner,” according to the letter. “This would not stress the system and would provide needed relief to the health care providers who are facing furlough due to a reduction in their work.”

“Each hospital should be analyzed individually and not with these sweeping orders that lack a basis in reality when it comes to numerous regions of the Commonwealth,” the letter said.