COVID-19 City Council UpdateCopyrighted
November 7, 2022
City of Dubuque Consent Items # 07.
City Council Meeting
ITEM TITLE: COVID-19 City Council Update
SUMMARY: City Manager transmitting a monthly COVI D-19 update. The next in -
person COVI D-19 update will occur at the December 5th, 2022, City
Council meeting.
SUGGESTED Suggested Disposition: Receive and File
DISPOSITION:
ATTACHMENTS:
Description
Covid-19-MVM Memo
Memo to MVM Covid -19 City Council Update
Council Update Nov 7 2022
Type
City Manager Memo
Staff Memo
Supporting Documentation
THE C
DUjIBQTE
Masterpiece on the Mississippi
TO: The Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager
SUBJECT: COVID-19 City Council update
DATE: November 2, 2022
Dubuque
WAWca 914
ii
2007-2012.2013
2017*2019
Public Health Director Mary Rose Corrigan is transmitting a monthly COVID-19 update.
Mic ael C. Van Milligen
u[yTlui�i
Attachment
cc: Crenna Brumwell, City Attorney
Cori Burbach, Assistant City Manager
Mary Rose Corrigan, Public Health Director
Dubuque
THE CITY OF
All -America City
DUB E le'
2007*2012.2013
Masterpiece on the Mississippi 2017*2019
TO: Mike Van Milligen, City Manager
FROM: Mary Rose Corrigan, Public Health Director
SUBJECT: COVID-19 City Council update
DATE: November 7, 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) 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 continue to gradually resume
"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:Hidph.iowa.gov/Emerging-Health-Issues/Novel-Coronavirus/COVID-19-Reporting
Case and Vaccination Data Via CDC:
https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#datatracker-home
Vaccination scheduling and access information:
https://www.cityofdubuque.org/2965/COVID-19-Vaccinations
and at https://vaccinefinder.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 48,831 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.
Hospital Capacity Planning
COVID-19 hospitalizations have increased steadily since the end of September;
however the total numbers are far below what they were in September 2020 and 2021.
The November 2, 2022 total was 8. The IMT meets bi-weekly with hospitals to assess
local capacity, capability and patient load. 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. Hospitals continue to be
very busy with a variety of conditions and illnesses. Few of the COVID-19 patients are
in the ICU.
Public Information
The City Public Information Office (PIO), in conjunction with the Incident Management
Team (IMT), continues to produce and distribute weekly County COVID updates with
important messages to residents as well as new data on new cases, hospitalizations,
deaths, and vaccinations. The PIO office responds to news media requests for
interviews and information and assists the IMT 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. We will be deploying targeted messaging and
information for children and teens vaccinations. PIO services provided by Public
Information Officer Randy Gehl and Mary Rose Corrigan are now billed to Dubuque
County based on an agreement executed with the Board of Health. The County Health
Department needs assistance with this function as they recruit and fill their county
health director position.
COVID- 19 Vaccination
The IMT continues to manage the IDPH vaccine allocations and distribution, primarily
through the VNA.
The uptake of bivalent formulations of the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine and the Pfizer-
BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines for use as a single booster dose has seen low uptake
compared with other booster rollouts. The Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech primary
COVID-19 Vaccines and booster Bivalents are authorized for individuals 6 months of
age and older. Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna have both developed bivalent omicron -
adapted mRNA COVID-19 vaccines targeting BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron subvariants for
additional age indications.
As of October 27, 2022, 58.7% of Dubuque County 5 years and older are fully
vaccinated with at least one booster dose.( 58.1 % on Sept 28, 2022.) The percentage
of fully vaccinated citizens increased by .3% since Sept 28, 2022 from 65.7% to 66%.
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: 11 /21, 12/12, 1 /9
Fridays 8-430pm-WALK INS: 11 /4, 11 /11, 11 /18, 12/2, 12/9, 12/16
Testing
Local providers providing COVID-19 tests continue to have adequate test supplies and
availability. Testing providers report less demand for COVID-19 testing. In addition to
isolating when you have COVID symptoms, the Dubuque County Public Health Incident
Management Team encourages residents who are symptomatic for COVID-19, but test
negative with a rapid self -test, to follow-up that test with a Test Iowa PCR test.
Test Iowa test kits are free and available for pick-up at multiple locations in Dubuque
County, for a complete list, visit https://www.testiowa.com/en#find-a-pick-up-site
Currently, the average time for Test Iowa results (email confirmation) after being
received at the lab is 12-24 hours.
Federal test via mail: https://www.covidtests.gov/
Dubuque County in home testlowa pick-up sites include:
https://www.cityofdubuque.org/2940/Local-COVID-1 9-Testing-Options
Testing options are updated regularly and posted at
https://www.citvofdubuque.org/2940/Local-COVID-1 9-Testing-Options
The Variants, Cases and Transmission
Omicron and its sub -variants continue to account for 100% of the positive COVID tests
in Dubuque County this fall. Dubuque County continues in the "medium" community
level category and moved to "high" for transmission.
Numerous variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, have
been tracked in the United States and globally during this pandemic. The Omicron
variant, like other variants, is made up of a number of lineages and sublineages. These
lineages are often very similar to each other, but there can be differences that affect the
behavior of the virus.
CDC is closely tracking a wide range of Omicron sub lineages, and although Dubuque
County continues to see BA.5.2.1, other parts of the country are seeing other sub -
variants in higher percentages.
After Action Report
The IMT has contracted with Emergency Preparedness Consulting (EPC) LLC, to
conduct the COVID-19 pandemic after action report (AAR). Dubuque County executed
a contract with the consultant, which will include a separate component to evaluate City
of Dubuque COVID -19 response operations, specifically public education regarding
COVID-19 and municipal service delivery, safe workplace guidance and employee
safety, and Departments Continuity of Operations Plans. The AAR is expected to be
completed in December, 2022. Community partners, health care organizations and
some appointed and elected officials will be surveyed and/or interviewed for their input.
Looking ahead
• Modify the IMT COVID-19 response based on the case transmission, CDC
Community Level and community needs and new vaccine availability.
• COVID-19 After Action Report: Begin with data gathering and planning for
community input in conjunction with Emergency Preparedness Consulting (EPC).
• Continue to offer Bivalent booster vaccines: Create and disseminate vaccinations
promotional materials for vaccination.
• 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 25% of my time is devoted to COVID-19
DUBUQUE CITY COUNCIL
COVI Dm 19 UPDATE
Mary Rose Corrigan, Public
Nov 7, 2022
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Health Director
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Positive Cases - Rolling 7 Day Volume Dubuque County
Mar 1, 2020 - Nov 1, 2022
1.5K
TI
500
0
Max 1,432
Avg 211.42
Min 0
Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov
2020 2021 2022
POWERED BY • •
COVID-19 CASES & HOSPITALIZATION IDrnw,rn
NEW COVID-19 CASES IN DUBUQUE
COUNTY IN LAST 7 DAYS
105
63 57
46
WA
10/5/2022 10/12/2022 10/19/2022 10/26/2022 11 /2/2022
DUBUQUE COUNTY
HOSPITALIZATIONS WITH COVID-19
$ 10 $
5 7
10/512022 10/1212022 10/19/2022 10/26/2022 11/212022
CDC COMMUNITY LEVEL
DUBUQUE CO: MEDIUM
COVID-19 Community Levels 1n Io,.,°fa
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Increased from September 27th
Weekly Metrics Used to Determine the
COVID-19 Community Level
Case Rate per 100,000 108 38
population
New COVID-19 admissions 18 7
per 100,000 population
% Staffed inpatient beds in use
by patients with confirmed 4.4% 3%
COVID-19
Oct 27, Sept 27,
2022 2022
VACCIN —
% of fully vac >5 yrs =70%
of population ? 5 years of age with completed primary series in
—0-29.9% "-30-39.9% 040-49.9% 50-69.9% 70%+ No Data
Dubuque County
61 % of population >_ 65 years of age with a first
booster dose that have a second booster dose
61 % >65 w/ 2 boosters
50% >49 w/2 boosters
The COVID-19 Vaccine:
ANOTHER<1MPORTAN
OOL TO, STOP
THE PANDEMIC
Learn how you can get a COVID-19
vaccine to keep you and your family
safe.
1vaJ1r
Tue Nov 01 2022 16:2121 GMT-0500
National supply of Moderna and Pfizer Bivalent vaccines is robust
Appointments for Bivalent vaccine- check health care provider websites
NO priority groups
2 months after primary series or booster
90 days post COVID-19 infection
Dubuque County COVID-19 Vaccine Access
httDs://www.dubuguecountyiowa.gov/567/COVID-1 9-Vaccinations
Ongoing walk-in VNA clinics at 660 Iowa St
Mondays:
3-6 pm
11/21,
12/12,
1/9
Fridays:
8-4:30 pm
11/11,
11/18,
12/2, 12/9, 12/16
SleevesUp Phone Line: (563) 690-6253
VNA Phone Line: (563) 556-6200
- FAQ's for vaccination and children
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/fag-children.htm I
"In the past, what's happened in Europe [COVID-19 cases] often has been a
harbinger of what's about to happen in the United States. So I think the bottom
line message for us here in this country is we have to be prepared for what they
are beginning to see in Europe."
Dr Michael Osterholm, Director
Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, University of Minnesota
QUESTIONS?
Thank -you r;
v
Next update: Dec 5, 2022