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COVID-19 UpdateCity of Dubuque City Council Meeting ITEM TITLE SUMMARY: SUGGESTED DISPOSITION: Copyrighted April 4, 2022 Presentation(s) # 1. COVID-19 Update Public Health Specialist Mary Rose Corrigan will provide an update on the COVI D-19 pandemic and response activities. Dubuque THE CITY OF All -America City DUB E `nl.c]Fl A"IIE 'I 2007*2012*2013 Masterpiece on the Mississippi 2017*2019 TO: Mike Van Milligen, City Manager FROM: Mary Rose Corrigan, Public Health Specialist SUBJECT: COVID-19 City Council update DATE: April 4, 2022 BACKGROUND INFORMATION Health Services Department City Hall Annex 1300 Main Street Dubuque,IA 52001 Office (563) 589-4181 Fax (563) 589-4299 TTY (563) 589-4193 health@cityofdubuque.org www.cityofdubuque.org The Dubuque County Public Health Incident Management (IMT) team consisting of City of Dubuque Health Services Department (Mary Rose Corrigan) Dubuque County Health Department, (Interim Director, Samantha Kloft) VNA (Stacey Killian) and the Dubuque County Emergency Management Agency (Tom Berger), along with both hospitals continue monitoring the pandemic and providing guidance. However, members of the IMT and community healthcare partners are now gradually resuming "pre -pandemic" activities. The IMT also consists of City of Dubuque Health Services Department Environmental Sanitarians Tim Link and Sydney Moquin who are spending much less time on the pandemic response. The Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) provides information via Health Alerts and their website. Randy Gehl continues to serve as the Public Information (PIO) officer for the IMT. CURRENT INFORMATION Iowa Coronavirus dashboard with case counts and other related COVID -19 data can be found at https://idph.iowa.gov/Emerging-Health-Issues/Novel-Coronavirus/COVID-1 9-Reporting Case and Vaccination Data Via CDC: https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#datatracker-home Vaccination scheduling and access information can be found at https://www.cityofdubugue.org/2965/COVID-19-Vaccinations and and at https:Hvaccinefinder.org/ Dubuque VNA VNA continues to operate the public call center for Dubuque County 7 days/week for general COVID questions along with quarantine and isolation specifics. To date VNA has fielded over 48,383 calls/contacts from the community and continues to administer vaccines. Along with free vaccinations, VNA distributes home Testlowa COVID test kits to anyone needing a test, free of charge. Emergency Management Agency (EMA) In March, 2022, there were no requests for supplies at the county EMA. The Regional node as been closed, but we do maintain local supplies in storage. In partnership with Hartig Drug, N95 masks are available to community members and organizations upon request. Hospital Capacity Planning With COVID-19 hospitalizations significantly decreasing in the past month, the IMT is now meeting bi-weekly with hospitals to assess local capacity. Local hospital data can be accessed via the Health and Human Services Public Health Protect Website: https://protect-public.hhs.gov/pages/hospital-utilization The IMT will continue to monitor hospital capacity and capability and communicate with MercyOne and UnityPoint Finley Hospitals as needed. Public Information The City Public Information Office (PIO), in conjunction with the Incident Management Team (IMT), revised the weekly COVID-19 updates to align with current data and metrics available through the IDPH and CDC. The PIO office continues with frequent social media posts, responds to news media requests for interviews and information, and assist with general messaging/communication needs. The PIO continues to track multiple metrics for the IMT and update the COVID-19 webpage on the City website. Videos featuring Public Health Specialist Mary Rose Corrigan are produced when needed and distributed through all available channels. In addition to continued marketing of vaccinations, PIO staff are promoting booster doses and clinics where they are available. COVID- 19 Vaccination The IMT continues to manage the IDPH vaccine allocations and distribution, primarily through the VNA. As of April 4, 2022, 34,551 booster doses have been administered in Dubuque County and 64.1 % of the total county populations are fully vaccinated. This is a slight increase from the 63.8% reported on February 7, 2022. The Dubuque County Sleeves Up phone line at (563) 587-4950 will continue to be staffed by the City Manager's Office. However, the phone line will not be specifically promoted due to ongoing declining usage. In addition to multiple vaccine providers in Dubuque County, Ongoing walk-in VNA clinics at 660 Iowa St are available on Mondays 3-6 pm -WALK INS: 4/4, 4/25 Fridays 8-430pm-WALK INS: 4/8, 4/22, 4/29 Testing Local providers offering COVID-19 continue to have adequate test supplies and availability. Testing providers report less demand for COVID-19 testing. The Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) and State Hygienic Lab (SHL) continue to provide at-home test kits free of charge to Iowa residents through a mail order system or via pick-up locations at healthcare and public health sites in communities. Information about where to obtain these free in- home test kits can be found at: https://www.testiowa.com/en Federal test via mail: https://www.covidtests.gov/ Dubuque County in home testlowa pick-up sites include: https://www.cityofdubugue.org/2940/Local-COVI D-19-Testing-Options Testing options are updated regularly and posted at https://www.cityofdubugue.org/2940/Local-COVI D-19-Testing-Options The Variants, Cases and Transmission The State Hygienic Laboratory (SHL) continues to sequence approximately 300 positive samples per week for variants. Omicron accounted for 100% of the positive COVID tests in Dubuque County during February and March, that were sequenced for variants by the SHL. Transmission has slowed and is now not as accurate indicator of the spread since negative cases are not reported along with home, rapid tests. Although the CDC reports 16.44 cases per 100,000 population for Dubuque County, the new indicator for COVID is "the community level." Dubuque County is in the "Low" community level category. Levels can be low, medium, or high and are determined by looking at hospital beds being used, hospital admissions, and the total number of new COVID-19 cases in an area. Looking ahead • Continue new community information strategies in lieu of traditional contact tracing • Modify the IMT COVID-19 response based on the case transmission, CDC Community Level and community needs. • Provide ongoing education and access for COVID -19 testing, vaccination and other guidance to all populations, with the assistance of the Equity Immersion Committee and many community partners. • Continue community vaccine education and administration as eligibility and availability changes. • Implementing and distributing ever changing guidance from CDC, IDPH. • Monitor and provide community education on SARS CoV2 variants. • Provide COVID-19 guidance for special events and activities • Continue assurance of COVID 19 testing access and in -home kit distribution as supplies and testing providers are available • Monitor county transmission rates and community level status to provide up to date information on masking and other mitigation strategies. • Currently approximately 40% of my time is devoted to COVID-19 0 DUBUQUE CITY COUNCIL COVI Dm 19 UPDATE Mary Rose Corrigan, Public Health S ecialist April 4, 2022 A • • 4D Positive Cases - Rolling 7 Day Volume Dubuque County Mar 1, 2020 - Apr 3, 2022 1.5K 113 500 0 Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul 2020 2021 Max 1,486 Avg 237.68 Min 0 Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr 2022 POWERED BY • • COMMUNITY TRANSMISSION & HOSPITALIZATION Decreasing cases since 2/2/22 NEW COVID-19 CASES IN DUBUQUE COUNTY IN LAST 7 DAYS DUBUQUE COUNTY HOSPITALIZATIONS WITH COVID-19: MAR. 2 - MAR. 30 102 3 3 64 2 2 1 13 31 16 31212022 31912022 3/1612022 3/2312022 313012022 3/2/2022 3/9/2022 3/16/2022 3/23/2022 3/30/2022 CDC COMMUNITY LEVEL MARCH 24=30, 2022 OVID-19 Community Levels of All Counties in US _x. Dubuque County: LOW COVID-19 Community Levels in US 6y County TOGI Percent hchange ,High 17 4.53%% -2.796 -1.126 Medium 146 4.5346 Weekly Metrics Used to Determine the COVID- ' Low 3057 94.9495 3.8245 How are COVID-19 Community Levels calculated? 19 Community Level Case Rate per 100,000 population New COVID-19 admissions per 100,000 population % Staffed inpatient beds in use by patients with confirmed COVID-19 March 30, 2022 ii I A 3.3 1.5% Dubuque County COVID-19 Vaccine Access httDs://www.dubuquecountyiowa.gov/567/COVID-1 9-Vaccinations Ongoing walk-in VNA clinics at 660 Iowa St Mondays 3-6 pm -WALK INS: Fridays 8-430pm-WALK INS: 4/4, 4/25 4/8, 4/22, 4/29 SleevesUp Phone Line: (563) 690-6253 VNA Phone Line: (563) 556-6200 64% of County population is fully vaccinated 57% of fully vaccinated are UP TO DATA (have received 1 booster) of fully vaccinated population with a booster dose in Dubuque County, Iowa r_ 0-29.9% r ' 30-39.9% 40-49.9% 50-69.9% 0 70%+ No Data Mon Apr 04 2022 13:20:04 GMT-0500 4 months after initial booster dose > 65 yrs >50 years with underlying medical conditions -such as: cancer, kidney, liver, lung chronic diseases, cystic fibrosis, dementia disease, diabetes, disabilities, heart conditions, HIV, immunocompromised state, brain health conditions, overweight and obesity, physical inactivity, pg, etc DON'T DELAY: TEST SOON AND TREAT EARLY COVID-19 1 If you are at high risk of ' getting very sick from CDVID-19, and test positive, treatment may be available. MUM F Get tested as soon as possible after your symptoms start. Contact your healthcare provider right away if your result is positive. Don't delay.Treatment must be started early to work. cdc.gowfcoronavirus [wNHr I nx�rt4xm coo-+4 LOOKING AHEAD... We need to be preparedfor our new normal or another new surge. We've got to do both."" Dr Michael Osterholm Washington Post, Mar 1, 2022 ■ Future COVID-19 updates??