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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-2020 AUGUST 26 PHAB Minutes Deschutes County Health Services Public Health Advisory Board MINUTES MINUTES August 26, 2020 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. via Zoom videoconferencing Facilitator Keith Winsor, Chair Staff Coordinator Tom Kuhn, Community Health Manager Scribe Lisa Michael Next Meeting September 23, 2020, via Zoom Topic and Lead Health Hero Winners acknowledgement Tom started off the meeting by introducing Ken Wilhelm from United Way as the individual Health Hero winner. Ken expressed his gratitude for the award; after which Linda Johnson was asked to speak about her nomination for Ken. Alison and Rebeckah also mentioned their interactions with Ken and the wonderful work he’s been doing in the community. Executive Director J.W. Terry accepted the organization award for COVO. He thanked the board for their nomination and gave some background information about COVO’s mission and their work reaching out to homeless veterans in the local camps. Kathy Skidmore, Executive Officer, also spoke about the needs of our veterans and how COVID interrupted their operation for a short spell. Keith and Dave met with J.W. to see their operation and how they are handling things during the pandemic. Dave mentioned they also assist veterans who need help with rent/mortgage and utilities. Adam Johnson, who is the Vice President of Central Oregon Veteran’s Council, briefly spoke about the great work they are doing for our homeless veterans. Various board members spoke about their experience with COVO. Tom will reach out the BOCC to inform them of the Health Hero winners. Introductions and Approval of June Meeting Minutes Keith mentioned there was no July meeting due to summer break. He conducted roll call and asked for a motion to approve the June minutes. Peter made a motion to approve with a second from Dave. Updates and Unfinished Business Tom mentioned that the CD team has been super busy with the Green Ridge Fire located 12 miles out of Sisters and west of Camp Sherman. A fire camp was set up at the Sisters rodeo grounds and since the fire is no longer growing and almost contained, the camp will be demobilizing early next week. Tom also mentioned they have implemented some great COVID measures for fire personnel. There haven’t been any recent updates on the Frog Fire. Tom believes that most of the smoke has been coming from the California fires, especially when the winds come from the south. “To promote and protect the health and safety of our community.” Updated 1/26/21 COVID 19 update Heather gave an update on where things stand related to COVID. She acknowledged Dr. Faith for her help with the presentation slides. Case counts have recently been declining with 32 cases last week and now down 9% this week. Deschutes County has reported 673 cases in total, with 448 recovered and 11 deaths. Cases started increasing in June with a spike in July. Heather shared a graph showing the cumulative case count and how things have stabilized some since the mask mandate. There was one uptick in July with a local long term care facility outbreak. At least half the cases reported have been in the 20-29 year old age group, which is causing the virus to spread to other vulnerable groups. The goal is to convey this in the community and send out targeted messages to this group emphasizing social distancing and mask wearing. The largest link to other cases has mainly come from outbreaks, clusters and close contacts either through social gatherings or workplace settings. In the beginning, returning travelers had the most unknown linkage, but that has now sharply declined. DCHS has significantly increased its CD staff in the last few months in order to assist in case investigations and contact tracing. The team touches base with COVID positive patients constantly and is available on call 24/7. Environmental Health Specialist Emily Freeland is acting as business liaison to assist local business owners. Dedicated subject matter experts are working with schools, long term care facilities, fire camps and various businesses. Testing is about 1500 a week right now with a 3% positivity rate. There is a big need for rapid testing since there is a backlog on test results. Turnaround for test results can be anywhere from 48 hours to a week or more. Governor Brown is working on a large testing plan and more community testing based centers. An uptick in hospitalizations was reported in March, which declined significantly when the stay- at-home order was implemented; however, figures increased again in July around the holiday and are finally starting to wind back down. St. Charles Health System is posting their COVID patient hospitalizations on their website. Heather said the long term effects of COVID are still unknown at this point. The community health metrics for schools must be met for three weeks and the case rate is required to be ten or less per 100k in the preceding seven days. Positive cases must be less than 5%, which Heather said equates to 19 or fewer cases per week in Deschutes County. The one exception is the criteria for K-3 grades. Since it is so difficult for younger children to learn on-line, the case rate is 30 per 100k for three weeks and schools must fully comply with the Ready Schools and Safe Learners guidance from the Oregon Department of Education. Since the benchmarks have not been met, all other grades will be required to start their first six weeks of school through on-line learning, at which time the schools will re-evaluate the situation. The state as a whole has not quite met the benchmark at 5.1% this past week. Heather said that when a business with 30 or more employees reports 5 or more positive cases, it can then be reported as public knowledge. Tom will send out Heather’s presentation to the Board and mentioned the next meeting is on rd September 23 via zoom. Meetings the rest of the year will also be via zoom and possibly into next year. October will be a working meeting. Adjourn at 12:52 p.m. “To promote and protect the health and safety of our community.” Updated 1/26/21 Board Members Present: Keith Winsor, Rebeckah Berry, Jim Powell, Steve Strang, Charla DeHate, Tami Pike, Dave Huntley, Jason Jundt, Rob Ross, Sharity Ludwig, Tanya Nason, Alison Perry, Peter Boehm Staff Present: Tom Kuhn, Heather Kaisner, Lisa Michael Guests: Durlin Hickok, Ken Wilhelm, Linda Johnson, Adam Williams, Kathy Skidmore; JW Terry COVO – Central Oregon Veteran’s Outreach COVID – Corona Virus Disease BOCC – Board of County Commissioners CD – Communicable Disease DCHS – Deschutes County Health Services “To promote and protect the health and safety of our community.” Updated 1/26/21