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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-04-27 Board of Health Minutes 0� Or RFgO Town of Reading - i Meeting Minutes Board - Committee - Commission - Council: Board of Health 11 ilf z 110 4� Date: 2020-04-27 Time: 10:00 AM Building: Location: Address: Session: Open Session Purpose: Covid-19 Version: Final Attendees: Members - Present: Emmy Dove, Eleanor Shonkoff, Kevin Sexton, Ann Marie Messina Members - Not Present: Lara Romanowski Others Present: Laura Vlasuk, Jean Delios, Mark Dockser, Greg Burns, Paul Jackson, John Doherty, Gail Dowd, Bob Le Lacheur, Dave Clark Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Emmy Dove Topics of Discussion: Meeting called to order at 10:06am. Update on food establishment inspections Call between Ms. Delios, Ms.Vlasuk, and Paul Jackson (Fire) Ms. Vlasuk will visit open locations—bring ordinance and sign (stop visiting closed locations) Spot checking all social distancing, etc (aka COVID inspections) For re-opening plan, divide businesses into. A—open, regular inspections B—closed, pre-inspections Ms. Shonkoff asked Ms. Vlasuk if she has been to all open businesses? Ms. Vlasuk slated she had and that businesses were generally looking good. Most(businesses and customers)seem to understand the rules, but are still just working to establish new habits. Both complaints and regular spot checks have been addressed at least once. High Density Residential Buildings Report by Ms. Dove: Our order requires property managers to notify residents if there is a positive case in the building, with the idea that people will change their behavior in response. Therefore, it focuses on limiting spread AFTER a positive test and symptoms. Mounting evidence that we should be focusing policy on limiting PRESYMPTOMATIC transmission. (NEJM, viral load highest 1-3 days before symptom onset) Thoughts for a more effective policy: 1. Close common gathering areas, such as pools, gyms, dining rooms, except laundry 2. Require face coverings when in building common areas, post signage 3. Require routine cleaning; specify frequency? 4. Recommend upgrades to air filtration systems? 5. Recommend residents not share elevators, when feasible Page 1 1 3 Categories: 1. LTC (nursing and assisted living facilities), state regulated; reporting requirements in place; can order facility-wide testing a. Risk factors i. Population density ii. Population age iii. Staff contact 2. General population (apartment and condo buildings), multi-age; no reporting requirements, nurses do NOT contact management(our order is ineffective and needs to be clarified) a. Risk factors I. Population density - 3. Senior housing/Independent Living, no reporting requirements, nurses DO contact management and communicate routinely, Burns also in regular contact a. Risk factors Population density ii. Population age State treats these as only 2 categories, lumping together general population with senior housing, which limits reporting requirements and testing access. Our nursing staff and Chief Burns treat them as 3 distinct categories, providing communication and guidance to senior housing facilities. MA H.4667:AN ACT RELATIVE TO LONGTERM CARE FACILITY AND ELDER HOUSING COVI D-19 REPORTING 1. Applies to Assisted Living, Elderly Housing, and LTC facilities 2. Daily reporting to local health dept and DPH the number of known positives and mortalities of residents and staff; health dept and DPH must make data available to public 3. Daily reporting to each resident or resident's legal representative the number of known positives and mortalities of residents and staff 4. DPH must report data weekly, including demographics, to House and Senate Ways and Means Committees Ms, Dove stated that Select Board member Karen Herrick was concerned that residents in elderly housing may not be receiving sufficient communications. Ms. Shonkoff will call state epidemiologist to ask if we are allowed to require PHN to notify property managers and contact Town Counsel to verify HIPAA-compliance. MS. Vlasuk updated the Board that Maria has closed out 20 cases, still has 2 outstanding and will advise on MAVEN questions. Ms. Dove sent MA DPH Covid dashboard link to other board members. Ms. Dehos noted she had pulled list for multi-families from permitting, and recently added senior housing and independent living to list of properties to contact regarding high density residential order. Mr. Sexton noted the above-mentioned bill may cover elder housing, in which case we'd just need to figure out what to do for private buildings. Ms. Shonkoff thinks posting signage alerting of a positive case in a private residential building is valuable, but we have to see if it's legal to require nurses to notify property managers. Noted our face coverings order requires wearing face covering in residential buildings and we should notify property managers to post. Ms. Dove will participate in SB meeting this week. Board amended Face Coverings order to require signage at residential buildings and community complexes of more than 1 unit. Motion to accept order as amended 4/27 by Ms. Shonkoff, seconded by Mr. Sexton. Roll call Mr. Sexton -yes Ms.Shonkoff-yes Page 1 2 Ms. Dove -yes Incident Command Unit joined at 11:08am: Mark Dockser(Select Board), Paul Jackson (Fire), Greg Burns (Fire), Bob LeLacheur, Gail Dowd (RPS), John Doherty(RPS), Dave Clark (Police) Reporting of stats Currently cumulative and active Chief Burns stated he expects numbers of deaths to rise due to Long Term Care numbers Mr. Sexton makes motion to release all DPH data (cumulative, active, recovered, deaths), second by Ms. Shonkoff. Roll call Mr. Sexton -yes Ms.Shell-yes Ms. Dove -yes Graduation Dr. Doherty reported that Kate (RMHS principal) is trying to be consistent with other communities and the day of would likely be virtual. SRO noticed residents discussing a possible parade on Facebook. Chief Clark expressed concern that if residents organize, it may get out of control, and suggested we should try to organize something on our end. Ms. Dove relayed an idea of doing a drive-in movie type of ceremony. Mr. Doherty said this is being considered. Mr. Dockser said he'd like parent involvement. Dr. Doherty stated he would like to get close to the original June 7 date. Mr. Sexton suggested we notify public that we are trying to organize. Ms. Dowd will have Kate (principal)work with class advisors to draft something to notify parents/community. Goal 3—phased plan to bring back staff Timeline is based on Governor's order. Mr. LeLacheur will provide general update for Select Board. Mr. Dockser would like it to indicate scope by listing departments. Mr. LeLacheur reported that work is in process to increase safety(eg. plexiglass at counters). Chief Burns wants to make sure they have PPE on hand for employees. Dr. Doherty is developing a plan to get students in to get their belongings. Ms. Dowd is planning to have food services folks come back to shut down kitchens. Restaurant inspections for re-opening Delos relayed the game plan. Have a list of food establishments, open and closed Inspectors are currently doing covid compliance at open establishments Once we receive green light for re-opening: Closed establishments first, open establishments second Goal 1 update: Facilities with high elderly pop Chief Burns is visiting 2-3 times/wk and many have accepted PPE. Bear Mountain tested 4/22 with many positives. They have sufficient PPE as they received a shipment from DPH in addition to what Chief Burns provided. Pearl —National Guard tested all staff and residents, several positives. Chief Burns provided PPE. Arts—not testing, 4 pos, 2 deaths, Burns supplied PPE early, they are all set with PPE, zero residents have symptoms, anyone with symptoms will be assumed positive Facilities can request test partial or full, but only once, so Artis is just going to treat individuals as positive if symptomatic, but numbers won't be included in DPH Mr. Sexton asked if they are treating the situation as everyone is positive in terms of operations. Mr. Jackson said yes,wearing full PPE everywhere. Should we give info about LTC—specific like NR press release Ms. Dove will give SB update stating LTC numbers vs town-wide#s. Summer school and recreation programs Dr. Doherty is making plans for if things will be onsite or not. Schools and daycares are closed till 6129. Ms. Dowd noted it will be difficult to operate with social distancing, so setting up programing under multiple models. Goal 9-Community mask distribution Page 1 3 Chief Burns is waiting for 15K for larger distribution to make sure we have enough for elderly facilities and town employees. He is concerned about supply chain. Chief Clark said the plan is to use field house parking lot for drive up distribution. Ms. Shonkoff left meeting at 11.56am. Discussion of how to get volunteers. Chief Burns laid out plan of 3 masks/car, volunteers wearing gloves. Noted that Wakefield asked for residents >60. Ms. Dove asked how the town is communicating with seniors. Mr. LeLacheur. elder services calls, Ms. Delios mailing list for senior center, but elder services does have large list(not exhaustive); Dr. Doherty. gets grandparents with his emergency email list Chief Clark felt like we are getting most individuals. Town Events Friends and Family Day-Canceled Memorial Day—Kevin Bohmillerwill change, one resident has complained, details to be announced, no flags at cemeteries Fall Street Faire—Mr. LeLacheur will reach out to organizer SJP graduation—owner of Venetian Moon wants to give out meals to graduating seniors, drive up distribution, location on TH cobblestone Chief Clark requested they spread out time to ease traffic, —124 seniors Town financial health Mr. LeLacheur stated there is nothing official, but definitely changes to budget required, will likely add Covid expenses to budget for next year Ms. Dowd noted if PPE requirements continue to apply for students and staff, it will be very expensive, plus add cleaning requirements Progress on assisting residents with food Ms. Delos is continuing the food assistance program. Ms. Dowd noted an uptick in requests for school food. USDA will allow schools to continue if staff is trained to do summer program. RPS has a staff member who is, so they would qualify for a waiver through 9/30. Kerry Valle (elder services) is trying to figure out how things would look in summer if the schools didn't do this. St. Vincent's is now using our vendors. Ms. Dowd also noted costs for the"seamless summer'would be reimbursed. United Way Mr. LeLacheur is in the planning stages for a United Way fundraiser. Town Meeting update Mr. Dockser reported that he is brainstorming a technology solution for Town meeting in mid-June with RCN, School IT, and Town IT. The Select Board will reassess at the May 27 meeting. Dr. Doherty mentioned that Microsoft Teams can do up to 500 for a live meeting. Ms. Dowd is holding school spaces in case we can spread people out. Mr. LeLacheur expects related legislation this week. As it is a small town warrant, Mr. Sexton asked if we could do a mail-in town meeting. There would be no public discussion but maybe items won't require debate. Mr. LeLacheur was concerned about limiting public discussion. The warrant is already published, the revised budget will go out in a couple weeks, and he's asked town meeting members to ask questions by today. Feedback in advance is more likely to be useful/represented now than on town meeting day as it will be a bare bones town meeting. Dockser recommended recording updates/reports from all parties in advance. Mr. LeLacheur added that instructional motions must be submitted in writing in advance only. Mr. Dockser noted the recall election will be held sometime between July and September, not before 6/30. Funeral homes Ms. Vlasuk continues to get requests from one funeral home for PPE. Chief Burns asked if they were ordering their own or do they need supplemental? Ms. Vlasuk stated that the funeral director did request some from MEMA on 4/13 and has not yet received them. Chief Clark supported the idea of providing some PPE due to the hazards of the job. Chief Burns wanted to make sure the town would not be expected to continue supplying in perpetuity. Ms. Messina will be attending the upcoming coalition meeting on substance abuse. Page 1 4 Motion to adjourn Mr. Sexton, seconded Ms. Dove. Rall call Mr. Sexton - yes Ms. Dove -yes Meeting adjourned at 12:52pm. Page 1 5