3 9 20 City Council Proceedings Official_SpecialCITY OF DUBUQUE, IOWA
CITY COUNCIL PROCEEDINGS
SPECIAL SESSION
OFFICIAL
The Dubuque City Council met in special session at 6:00 p.m. on March 9, 2020 in the
second-floor Council Chambers of the Historic Federal Building, 350 W. 6th Street.
Present: Mayor Buol; Council Members Jones, Resnick, Roussell, Sprank; City
Manager Van Milligen, City Attorney Brumwell
Absent: Council Members Cavanagh and Shaw.
Mayor Buol read the call and stated this is a special session of the City Council called
for the purpose of conducting a work session on COVID-19 Information and
Recommendations.
WORK SESSION
COVID-19 Information and Recommendations
1. Public Health Specialist Mary Rose Corrigan and Fire Chief Rick Steines conducted a
work session on COVID-19 preparation and response activities along with a current
situation report for Dubuque County and the City of Dubuque. Ms. Corrigan introduced
members of the Dubuque County Preparedness Coalition who were present. Topics
included:
• Review of membership and responsibilities of the Dubuque County Healthcare
Preparedness Coalition Steering Committee
o Community resilience;
o Strengthen incident management, information management,
countermeasures and mitigation, and surge management .
• Public Health Preparedness
o Planning with Dubuque County Preparedness Healthcare Coalition;
o Reginal planning and drills;
o Local drills and updates to Multi-Hazard Plan;
o Ongoing preparedness education.
• Coronavirus
o Types of common and rare viruses;
o Emphasis on handwashing;
o Charting number of U.S. cases January-March 2020;
o International travel notices from the CDC;
o States reporting cases of COVID-19 to CDC;
o Testing data at Iowa’s State Hygienic Lab;
o People being monitored by Iowa Public Health; criteria, procedures, and
reporting;
o COVID-19 testing in Iowa.
• Public Health Risk Categories
• Screening of travelers
• Isolation and Quarantine
o Contact Iowa Department of Health, Dubuque County Health Department,
Visiting Nurse Association
• Emergency Medical Services
o Dispatch is asking travel- and flu-related questions;
o Limiting personnel contact and exposure;
o Influenza screening form in electronic health records;
o Iowa personal protective equipment survey;
o Emphasizing staying home if ill.
• Review of Influenza pandemics of the 20th Century
• Looking ahead
o Currently low-risk in Iowa;
o Potential for sustained community spread of this virus;
o Emergency Operations Center activation if needed;
o Public health at local, state, and federal levels: encourage preparedness for
potential pandemic;
o Workforce, school, and social considerations;
o Confidentiality considerations;
o Continuity of operations for businesses.
• Public Hotline
o Call 211 available 24/7;
o https://idph.iowa.gove/merging-health-issues/novel-coronavirus
o www.cityofdubuque.org
Responding to questions from the City Council, Ms. Corrigan stated that the IDPH has
specific, precautionary information for businesses and for professionals who do home
visits. She reviewed the process that starts with alerts from the CDC, which then reports
to state and county levels with the County Health Department providing specific direction.
Public gatherings should be monitored, and cancellations determined by the organizers
of the event(s).
There being no further business, Mayor Buol declared the meeting adjourned at 6:34
p.m.
/s/Kevin S. Firnstahl, CMC,City Clerk