Work Session - COVI D-19 Pandemic Monthly Update Copyrighted
October 5, 2020
City of Dubuque Work Session - Top # 1.
City Council Meeting
ITEM TITLE: 5:00 PM - COVID-19 Pandemic Monthly Update
SUM MARY: City staff and network partners will provide updates on the internal and
community-facing responses to the COVI D-19 pandemic.
Tentative presentation order:
• Community COVI D-19 Update & Communication Response: Mary
Rose Corrigan, Public Health Specialist; and Mark Dalsing, Police
Chief
• Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque Update: Jenna
Manders, Director of Strategic Relations
• United Way of Dubuque Update: Danielle Peterson,
President/CEO
• Greater Dubuque Development Corporation: Rick Dickinson,
President/CEO
SUGGESTED
DISPOSITION:
ATTACHMENTS:
Description Type
COVI D-19 Work Session Agenda-MVM Memo City Manager Memo
Staff Memo Staff Memo
Dubuque
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TO: The Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager
SUBJECT: Agenda for October 5, 2020 City Council Work Session re: COVID-19
Response
DATE: September 30, 2020
Assistant City Manager Cori Burbach is transmitting the agenda for the Work Session
on COVID-19 Response. The presentation will provide updates from City staff and our
partners on the internal and community-facing response to COVID-19.
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Mic ael C. Van Milligen
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cc: Crenna Brumwell, City Attorney
Cori Burbach, Assistant City Manager
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TO: Michael C Van Milligen, City Manager
FROM: Cori Burbach, Assistant City Manager
DATE: September 29, 2020
RE: Agenda for 10.5.20 City Council Work Session: re: COVID-19 Response
The purpose of this memo is to provide an agenda for the City Council Work Session
scheduled for October 5, 2020. The presentation will provide updates from City staff
and our partners on the internal and community-facing response to COVID-19.
Tentative presentation order:
5:00 pm Community COVID-19 Update & Communication Response
Mary Rose Corrigan, Public Health Specialist
Mark Dalsing, Police Chief
5:45 pm Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque Update
Jenna Manders, Director of Strategic Relations
5:55 pm United Way of Dubuque Update
Danielle Peterson, President/CEO
6:05 pm Greater Dubuque Development Corporation
Rick Dickinson, President/CEO
6:30 pm Regular City Council meeting begins
The most up-to-date information will be shared verbally during the work session.
Thank you.
F:\Council\5_Scanned Images\2020_10_5 Agenda\2020.10.05 City Council Update.docx
TO: Mike Van Milligen, City Manager
FROM: Mary Rose Corrigan, Public Health Specialist
SUBJECT: COVID-19 update
DATE: October 5, 2020
CURRENT INFORMATION
• The Dubuque County Public Health Incident Management (IMT) team consisting
of City of Dubuque Health Services Department (Mary Rose Corrigan) Dubuque
County Health Department, (Patrice Lambert) VNA (Stacey Killian) and the
Dubuque County Emergency Management Agency (Tom Berger), along with
both hospitals continue in full activation. We are coordinating our response
efforts in conjunction with the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH), and with
guidance from CDC via weekly webinars and direct contact with our regional
epidemiologist. Randy Gehl serves as the Public Information (PIO) officer for the
IMT.
• As of 3 pm on Oct 5, 2020, 921 new cases were added to Dubuque County’s
total since I last gave a report to the City Council on Sept 21, 2020. As of
October 5, 2020, Dubuque County has 3735 positive COVID-19 cases. To date,
we have had a total of 45 deaths in Dubuque County. In the past 7 days, 353
people have tested positive. Currently, Dubuque County has 19 COVID-19
Dubuque County patients who are hospitalized. This is not the total number of
COVID-19 related hospitalization, but Dubuque County residents. Over 31,000
people have been tested in Dubuque County. About 12% of the cases tested
since March have been positive. The current average 14-day positivity rate is
15% according to the IDPH. This increased from slightly from 14.5% on
September 21, 2020. About 60% of Dubuque County positive cases have
recovered to date.
• The State has 92,986 cases, up 12,253 from 80,733 positive cases reported on
Sept 21, 2020. About 11% of individuals tested statewide have been positive
overall. The State’s 14-day average positivity rate is 8.8%, stable from the rate
reported on September 21, 2020. A total of 1388 Iowans have died due to
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
F:\Council\5_Scanned Images\2020_10_5 Agenda\2020.10.05 City Council Update.docx
COVID-19 illness. Currently, 389 cases are hospitalized, an increase of 118
since Sept 21, 2020 and almost 72,000 or 77% of Iowans have recovered.
• New Quarantine Guidance:
• White House Task Force Report dated September 13th moved Dubuque County
and the City of Dubuque back to Red Zone status, with the state continuing as a
Red Zone. Citing Iowa as having the third highest new cases/100,000 in the
country and the 16th highest positivity rate. The designation is also based on
having greater than 100 cases/100,000 population in the previous 7 days, along
with test positivity above 10%. The recent drastic increase in the number of
positive cases reported daily is a result of two main categories. First, local
colleges and universities testing athletes regularly have added to the numbers,
along with pre-K- 12 students throughout the county. Children 0-17 years old now
make up 10% of the cases, with more grade school students now testing positive.
In my last report on September 8th, I mentioned the fact that school openings
(including higher education and pre-K through 12) would continue to affect our
local positivity rates. Adding to the increases are community events, even if they
are occurring outdoors, where physical distancing and mask wearing are not
adhered to, along with weddings and social gatherings According to the Georgia
Institute of Technology COVID-19 Event Risk Assessment Planning Tool,
(https://covid19risk.biosci.gatech.edu/) the current risk level is 99% that at least 1
positive COVID-19 person will be present at an event in Dubuque County with
100 people attending. The risk is 80% if the event size is 25 people, and so on.
• Community Testing: The TestIowa clinic continues at Epic Health and Wellness
on Cedar Cross Road along with free testing offered at Hartig Drug locations and
Union Family Pharmacy. An additional test site at Grand River Center opened
on Sept 28,2020. The appointment hours at Grand River are different than the
Epic Health and Wellness site, which improves testing accessibility for the
community. The test sites are not scheduled at full capacity, which allows for
timely testing of those who need or want a test. Those wanting testing at these
locations must register on the websiteTestIowa.com or
DoINeedACovid19Test.com and receive a voucher number to be eligible to
schedule an appointment for a drive- up test. The local health care provider
clinics report they continue to test symptomatic, at risk and those patients
undergoing procedures, surgeries, or admittance to the hospital. Hospitals must
use rapid test supplies prudently since these are in higher demand and more
difficult to source.
I continue to meet with representatives from major health care providers weekly
to assess their needs and testing capacity. Local testing ca pacity includes
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TestIowa and HHS testig, the physician and health care provider clinics who are
for the most testing according to State Hygienic Lab guidelines and both
hospitals.
The Public Health Incident Management Team is providing additional testing of
individuals identified through contact tracing and referred 281 individuals by the
VNA.
• Contact tracing: The Iowa Department of Public Health is conducting the contact
tracing of positive cases and is still in the process of hiring additional staff. VNA
continues to phone/contact all new positive cases to provide a local connection
and assess isolation and shelter needs along with testing information. VNA is
also assisting with pre-K -12 schools and higher education institutions on contact
tracing. Schools and higher education institutions are also actively participating in
the contact tracing.
• Long Term Care facility status: Dubuque County currently has two long-term care
facility outbreaks. Nursing homes are required to test staff and residents on a
frequency based on the previous week’s positivity rate and other CMS directives.
The current positivity rate requires routine testing of staff twice per week. Long
Term Care Facilities are receiving rapid, or point-of -care testing supplies through
HHS, to allow them to perform the surveillance testing at their facilities. Long
term care facilities receive guidance from IDPH, Iowa Department of received
updated guidance regarding visitation.
.
Schools
• The Public Health Incident Management team continues to provide guidance and
planning assistance with the county colleges and universities and the K-12
districts. The K-12 schools must use the IDPH 14- day positivity rate posted on
the coronavirus.iowa.gov site as one of the indicators that determines
maintaining in- person school attendance. The IMT meets bi-weekly with preK-12
school. The VNA works closely with the preK-12 schools on notification of
positive cases and starting the contact tracing process as soon as possible ,
conducting 642 contact tracing calls to date. School specific COVID dashboards
can be found on individual district websites. Mary Rose Corrigan is the contact
for daily, general school related questions.
The Dubuque County higher education institution representatives also meet bi-
weekly with the IMT. VNA provides similar contact tracing and assistance with
the higher education students as they do with preK-12. Some higher education
institutions have COVID dashboards on their respective websites.
• Dubuque VNA Continues to operate the public call center for Dubuque County 7
days/week. The VNA has fielded a total of 21,861 calls and contacts since
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March, 2020. In addition, they continue to provide thermometers, (1056 total)
food assistance and other human needs referrals. The VNA also provides
guidance to childcare providers and schools .In addition, the VNA provides daily
services for the isolation shelter.
• Public Health Mitigation measure enforcement in restaurants and bars- The
Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division (ABD) requires licensees to complete a
COVID-19 Compliance Checklist to assist in the implementation of the
Governor’s proclamation requirements. Of the city of Dubuque’s 220 alcohol
license holders, 62 have completed the required checklist. The answers to the
questions will indicate the operational measures licensees have or will be taking
to comply with the requirements as outlined in the proclamation. Failure by
licensees to complete the checklist will results in a visit to the establishment to
verify compliance by an ABD investigator. Recently, the ABD conducted 229
compliance inspections in Northwest and Central Iowa and reported to us that
the majority are in compliance. The ABD continues to rely on communication
from local law enforcement and food inspectors to enforce the Governor’s
Proclamation.
The Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals (DIA) and the Alcoholic
Beverages Division (ABD) have an on-line portal for citizens to submit concerns
and complaints on specific establishments. Once a complaint is received, DIA
and/or ABD will follow up with investigation and enforcement. DIA also asks
local contracting health departments to visit the establishment and provide
education. So far, we have done that on one establishment.
• Vaccines The IMT is receiving ongoing information and vaccination planning
tools from the IDPH. We continue to work with local healthcare providers to
assess their interest in being a vaccination site and provide information on
vaccine planning. To date, 10 local providers have indicated their interest in
administering vaccine through 14 sites. Although we are creating plans to start
vaccine administration in November, a specific date for vaccine delivery is yet to
be determined. When the vaccine is first distributed to state and local health
departments, it will be restricted for priority groups- such as health care workers,
first responders, and long- term care facilities. As the vaccine production
increases, it will continue to delivered and administered based on other priority
groups such as those in specific age categories, those who have underlying
health conditions, and critical or essential workers- then it will be distributed to
the general public, as supplies allow. This vaccine will require 2 doses for full
protection, either 3 or 4 weeks apart, depending on the manufacturer. So,
although distribution is supposed to begin during November, it will be on a limit ed
basis and will also depend on successful phase three trials by the manufacturers.
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Looking ahead
• Continue to focus on to plan for opening and ongoing operation along with other
organizations with providing guidance for when they have a positive case.
• Conduct food inspections and assist special events with the recommended
COVID-19 public health measurers.
• Preparing for the upcoming Influenza season
• Implementing ever changing guidance from CDC, IDPH and DOE.
• Plan for community vaccine point of distribution (POD.)
What you can do now
• Continue to stay home as much as possible and practice physical and social
distancing.
• Mask up.
• Implement the recommendations from The White House Task Force report, such
as:
a. Continue to promote social distancing and wearing of cloth face masks when
outside the home, especially in indoor environments and in counties with high
(>100cases/100k population) or increasing case rates.
b. Limit social and other gatherings to fewer than 10 people
c. Specific, detailed guidance on community mitigation measures can be found on
the CDC website.
• Assist IDPH contact tracers by “answering the call.”
• Encourage citizens to quarantine for 14 days from an exposure to a confirmed or
suspected COVID-19 case. If you are not sure whether you have been exposed,
start quarantining anyway.
• Isolate for 10 days if you test positive or have COVID-19 symptoms, including
having improved symptoms and no fever for 24 hours without the use of fever
reducing medications.
• Limit trips to grocery stores and for other retail outlets
• Utilize curbside pick-up, carry-out and delivery for food and other purchases
• Consider your own personal risk factors before venturing to retail stores and
places of business or for personal or recreational services. Risks to consider
include age, underlying and/or chronic health conditions – especially respiratory
and cardiac conditions, diabetes and if you smoke, are obese or live with
• Follow the 3 C’s - (clean, cover, contain) and emphasize handwashing- which is
ideal. When handwashing is not available, use hand sanitizer.
• Encourage citizens to continue to seek and utilize factual information from the
city of Dubuque, IDPH and CDC websites and postings, being mindful that this is
an ever changing and emerging pandemic.
• Do research before traveling- so you are totally prepared for other communities’
risk, and potential illness.
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• For community groups, plan ahead for events and cancellations.
Health Services Department
City Council update Oct 5, 2020
Mary Rose Corrigan, Public Health Specialist
Dubuque County Public Health
Incident Management Team (IMT)
Mary Rose Corrigan Stacey Kilian
City of Dubuque Visiting Nurses Association
Randy Gehl, City of Dubuque
Public Information Officer
Patrice Lambert Tom Berger
Dubuque County Emergency Management
-20
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
1/20 3/10 4/29 6/18 8/7 9/26 11/15CASES
DATE
Dubuque County Epi Curve
46
69
134
83
59 63
45
29
71 76 75 81
57
30
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
TRENDLINE OF 14-DAY AVERAGE OF
NEW COVID-19 CASES IN DUBUQUE COUNTY
7.2%
16.3%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
DUBUQUE COUNTY PAST 14-DAY AVERAGE
COVID-19 TEST POSITIVITY RATE: SEPT. 1-30
(IDPH CALCULATION)
exported 05 Oct 2020
Positive Cases -Rolling 7 Day Volume
Mar 1, 2020 -Oct 4, 2020
10
21
10
38 36
21 26
18 22
41
30
47
24 23 20
43 45
113
69
85
40 46
69
134
83
59 63
45
29
71
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
9/1/20209/2/20209/3/20209/4/20209/5/20209/6/20209/7/20209/8/20209/9/20209/10/20209/11/20209/12/20209/13/20209/14/20209/15/20209/16/20209/17/20209/18/20209/19/20209/20/20209/21/20209/22/20209/23/20209/24/20209/25/20209/26/20209/27/20209/28/20209/29/20209/30/2020SEPTEMBER TRENDLINE OF
NEW COVID-19 CASES IN DUBUQUE COUNTY
125
151
207
409
338
262
233
257
122
289
264
300
256
231
0
100
200
300
400
500
9/21/2020 9/22/2020 9/23/2020 9/24/2020 9/25/2020 9/26/2020 9/27/2020 9/28/2020 9/29/2020 9/30/2020 10/1/2020 10/2/2020 10/3/2020 10/4/2020
14-DAY TRENDLINE OF COVID-19 TESTING IN DUBUQUE COUNTY
5.6%
4.7%4.6%
3.8%3.7%3.6%3.4%3.4%
3.1%2.9%2.8%2.8%
2.5%2.5%
2.1%
1.3%
0.0%
1.0%
2.0%
3.0%
4.0%
5.0%
6.0%
COVID-19 Cases to Date as Percent of Population
by Zip Code as of Oct. 5, 2020
5,627
4,740
4,455
3,773 3,712 3,614 3,439 3,438
3,054 2,908 2,820 2,800
2,491 2,469
2,109
1,287
0
1,000
2,000
3,000
4,000
5,000
6,000
Dubuque County COVID-19 Cases per Capita
by Zip Code as of Oct. 5, 2020
exported 05 Oct 2020
Mar 16, 2020 -Oct 5, 2020
Positive Cases by Age Group
Questions