Last week, Gov. Tom Wolf renewed his COVID-19 disaster declaration.

Warren County remains under a disaster declaration, as well.

But the arguments put forth by elected officials clearly show a belief that the county declaration and state declaration serve vastly different purposes.

In a press conference at the state Capitol late last week, State Representative Kathy Rapp said that the state “has achieved and exceeded the major COVID-19 mitigation objectives set before us throughout the governor’s 180 days — and counting — emergency shutdown.”

Rapp said that it is “now time to open Pennsylvania.

“We have successfully flattened the curve,” she said, noting that Warren General Hospital has had no COVID-19 admissions.

She said the state’s health care capacity has been expended and that Pennsylvania “has successfully started vaccine development via funds appropriate from the state budget.

“Perhaps what’s most amazing,” she continued, “is that all of this was accomplished in spite of the governor’s unprecedented abuse of emergency powers.”

She cited permanent business closures, over 3.5 million unemployment claimants and a “broken unemployment compensation system unable to assist them.”

“The need to terminate the governor’s emergency powers continues to increase,” she said, thanking the frontline workers and non-profits that have met needs during the pandemic.

While House Republicans want Wolf’s disaster declaration to cease, the county commissioners intend to keep the declaration at the county level.

Commissioner Ben Kafferlin said the declaration is a “nice thing to have in our back pocket should be need it” and said there is a “great difference” between the county and state declaration.

Kafferlin said “if and when we use it” iy primarily accelerates a contract or purchase to make the county’s COVID-19 response “more nimble.

“I’m in favor of keeping it for now,” he said.

When the decision was made, the commissioners said that the declaration “is largely being done for administrative reasons, to vest more authority in our Director of Public Safety to draw down state and federal resources and staff the Emergency Operations Center. It also allows us to acquire equipment and personnel quickly, without going through bidding processes, as it relates to COVID-19.”