Wood County Emergency Management Agency’s Emergency Operation Center’s Situation Report on COVID-19 Response for June 9.
Executive Summary:
Gov. Mike DeWine said Wednesday is the 50th Anniversary of the Office of Ohio With Disabilities, now called Opportunities for Ohioans With Disabilities. More than 1.6 million Ohioans with disabilities and 800,000 of working age. www.OODworks.ohio.gov
Our nation continues to mourn George Floyd’s death. Gov. Kasich created the Ohio Collaborative Community-Police Advisory Board. While a number of law enforcement agencies in Ohio have been certified to meet minimum requirements in recruitment and use of force, 400+ have not been certified. The Governor is encouraging any police agency who has not been certified to seek certification. Last year, DeWine added pursuit tactics to the certification process. The Governor is now adding law enforcement response to mass gathering in the following areas: best practices, preventing injuries to the media, use of force (tear gas, non-lethal weapons) and when do tactics become excessive? The goal is not to give violent members of the protest to have a “free pass,” rather to ensure the safety of the demonstrators and reduce the damage to public/private businesses. The Ohio Collaborative Community-Police Advisory Board to review recruitment and retention for minority and female officers. This is the beginning of improving police community relations.
Over 30,000,000 pieces of PPE have been distributed throughout Ohio with 27,800,000 to county EMAs but is still considered a work in progress. On May 19, BWC began providing non-medical grade face coverings. PPE continues to be an on-going process through the Ohio Manufacturers’ Alliance. GOJO from the Akron area (parent company of Purell) has expanded to four manufacturing locations in Ohio as well as adding over 200 jobs.
Dr. Susan Kolertar from the Ohio State University discussed the World Health Organization (WHO) statement yesterday that asymptomatic COVID patients rarely spread COVID-19. Dr. Kolertar stated everyday we learn new things and it is challenging to track pre-symptomatic who do not know they are pre-symptomatic. She stated an “asymptomatic” patient has the virus but never develops symptoms.
Pre-symptomatic patients are people who do not know they have the virus and will develop COVID-19 which is the same philosophy as the seasonal flu. We need to continue what we are currently doing as we do not have enough information based on today’s knowledge. Handwashing, facial covering and social distancing are key to preventing the spread of COVID-19 and keep the numbers down. We need to be cautious, many people at the beginning stages of COVID-19 do not know they have it and are spreading it. We must continue to assume everyone has COVID-19 and protect ourselves accordingly.
Ohio Confirmed Cases: 36,355
Ohio Probable Cases: 2,807
Ohio Total Confirmed plus Probable: 39,162
Ohio Hospitalizations: 6,620
ICU Admissions: 1,708
Ohio Confirmed COVID Deaths: 2,196
Ohio Probable COVID Deaths: 225
*For daily state hospitalization data please visit: https://coronavirus.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/covid-19/dashboards/key-metrics/hospitalizations/key-metrics-on-hospitalizations scroll to the bottom, find the date you are looking for and hover your mouse over that bar.
Wood County Cases (total plus probable): 308
Wood County Hospitalizations: 66
Wood County Long Term Care Cases: 198
Wood County Deaths: 49
(Wood County numbers remain unchanged since last week)
County EOC Objectives:
1. Coordinate the county’s response to limit spread of COVID-19; and maintain medical care.
2. Provide timely, clear, and consistent messaging to the public, stakeholders and media on the status of COVID-19 and actions the public can take to keep themselves safe.
3. Determine how county agencies will continue delivery of essential services to Wood County residents while following COVID-19 public health guidelines.
4. Prevent, identify, mitigate, and respond to COVID19 hotspots within the county.
EMA:
• State EMA continues to work on providing PPE to the county EMA with continued PPE pushes next week of surgical masks and gowns.
• The Wood County EMA has cloth masks available for local government entities. Please contact us if you have a need. These will be given on a first come first served basis.
• Please contact us if you have PPE to donate, if you have any PPE needs or have any questions, or if you know citizens looking to purchase masks, please connect them with our office and we can give them the contact information of local mask sellers.
Public Health:
• There are 36,355 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Ohio. There are 308 cases (total confirmed plus probable) presently in Wood County, 66 of those are or have been hospitalized, 198 in long term care, 49 deaths.
• Case follow-up and contact tracing – Confirmed and probable cases are reported to the health department. Several health department staff are involved in contacting cases and their close contacts to ensure isolation and quarantine guidelines are followed. In addition, a UT professor has enlisted a pool of trained nursing and other students to help the health department with interviews of cases and their close contacts.
• Testing – testing locations and other local information, as well as links to ODH and CDC resources, can be found at Coronavirus.WoodCountyHealth.org
• Health department staff are answering calls regarding testing, essential business concerns, employee safety, the stay-at-home order and many other questions.
• Wood County Health Department inspectors visited establishments in Bowling Green, Perrysburg and Northwood during the week of May 18-22
Healthcare:
• Wood County Hospital has resumed elective surgery procedures. It is important for those that have delayed care to contact their healthcare provider so they can get the medical attention they need to prevent complications and long-term health problems. https://bit.ly/2UnsqH7
• Long Term Care: The Wood County health department has PPE (i.e., isolation gowns, N95s, surgical mask, face shields, Tyvek suits, and gloves) that they can give to you. Please email: William Bryant-Bey (wbryant-bey@co.wood.oh.us) with the supplies you want for your agency and the pickup date/time. PPE pickup is located at the Wood County Health Department. Pick up is Thursday, June 11, from 9 to 10:30 a.m. and 1 to 4 p.m.
• For formal resource requests, please contact us at: woodcountyema@co.wood.oh.us.
• If an agency doesn’t have fit test capability and they need staff fit tested, Wood County Hospital Ready Works does fit testing for N95 masks. The cost is $25/person. They need to bring their own mask, schedule in advance 419-373-4162, complete a questionnaire, and takes about 15 minutes per person.
Wood County Parks:
• Wood County Park District parks and preserves are open daily from 8 a.m. until 30 minutes past sunset. Observe social distancing of 6-10 feet from anyone who does not live in a household. Restrooms are open. Park-goers are asked to wear a mask inside the restroom.
Currently, playgrounds and facilities are closed, programs and events are canceled, and park district headquarters are closed to the public.
Schools:
• Northwood: Don’t forget – Kids (youth up to age 18) Eat Free! Monday and Wednesday June 1 to July 31. Be sure to drive-thru between 11 and 11:45 a.m., at Northwood High School, 600 Lemoyne Road, Brentwood Shelter House, 300 Brentwood Drive, Northwood.
• If you have a child in kindergarten through twelfth grade in your household who was receiving free or reduced-price meals while in school, your child is eligible for the Pandemic-Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT) program to receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits as a result of the school closure.
• What is P-EBT? The federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act of 2020 provides a temporary program called Pandemic-Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT). P-EBT provides children in kindergarten through twelfth grade eligible for free or reduced-price meals with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as food stamps) benefits. The program is administered by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services and the Department is partnering with the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) to ensure children and families receive this important benefit. For questions regarding P-EBT, please contact the ODJFS customer service line at 1-866-244-0071.
BGSU:
• Now publishing a situation report once/week.
• They are waiving the application fee for undergraduate, graduate, and BGSU eCampus students. The next eCampus session starts June 22. In addition, the University Freshman Academic Scholarship deadline has been extended, and the GRE and GMAT requirements have also been waived. Learn more and apply: https://bit.ly/30htmRj
The Bowling Green Community center opened last Friday. Some changes have been made at the community center in order for us to comply with the State of Ohio mandatory guidelines. Hours have been adjusted to allow staff time to deep clean the facility: Monday through Friday, from 5:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
WIC: We are here for you every step of the way. Please call us at 419-354-9661 if you need anything-from breastfeeding support to assistance with formula for your baby.
The Wood County District Public Library is on track to open in July. Library users, please note that any materials checked out before WCDPL closed on March 15 in response to Coronavirus safety guidelines now have a due date of Friday, June 12. You may return any borrowed items you’ve been holding on to by using the book drop built into the North wall of the Bowling Green building (or, for the Walbridge library, built into the South wall, just right of the Watershed filling station). Items borrowed prior to March 15 which have not been returned or renewed by June 12 will start receiving overdue notices.
• The Red Cross wanted to reach out to everyone and make you aware of locations in our community that are available for donations. The dates are in the same window for donations if you were signed up for a drive here at WCBDD. To schedule an appointment at one of these sites please visit redcrossblood.org and enter sponsor code: GOODSHEPHERD or call 1-800-Red-Cross, (733-2767).
Administrative Information:
Any information and contributions your agency has for this report is valuable to maintain a common operating picture and situational awareness for the county as a whole.
Please reach out to our office via phone or email (email preferred) to share information.
EOC Hours of Operation: 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Requesting support: Call Wood County EMA at 419-354-9269 or email
woodcountyema@co.wood.oh.us
ODH Call line: 1-833-4-ASK-ODH (1-833-427-5634)
www.coronavirus.ohio.gov
