By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
Society is walking a tight rope as it balances easing stay at home orders and allowing business to slowly open while still containing the spread of COVID-19.
Wood County Health Commissioner Ben Batey told the county Board of Health Thursday that he’s certain that the number of cases will go up. Everyone needs to be as “safe and vigilant “ as possible.
But keeping businesses closed has negative consequences. There are economic consequences, and mental health consequences, and health consequences.
The economy must open up, insisted Board member Richard Strow. “If we don’t open up it’s going to completely destroy the fabric of society.”
He’s afraid of the consequences of widespread unemployment, including “the inevitable spike in suicide and overdoses.” That’s already being seen in Southeast Ohio.
The idea of flattening the curve was not to reduce the number of deaths, Strow claimed, but to spread them out. “I’m not sure it’s worth the price.”
(Health experts have explained flattening the curve as leveling off the rate of hospitalizations, particularly in intensive care units.)
Batey said he understood Strow’s concerns. But as the economy was opening up it is up to public health “to sound the alarm” if the number of cases start to climb.
As things open up health officials will have to keep an eye on the numbers in case those measures need to be slowed. With a two-week window of when people can develop symptoms, those numbers may climb “before we realize it.”
But as is the case with so much in the pandemic, there are many unknowns. Batey said he’s encouraged that the state is going to start doing randomized testing that will give health officials a better sense of how many people have or have had COVID-19.
When a randomized study was done in Indiana it showed 2.8 percent had or have COVID-19. That’s far below the level of “herd immunity” that some aspire to. That would be more like 60 percent exposure, Batey said.
The widespread outbreaks have occurred in “congregant” settings – nursing homes and prisons. But stay at home orders have kept people from large gatherings, and that has suppressed infections. Now more people will be exposed.
Still “we want people to be mindful of staying healthy,” he said. That means wearing masks, washing hands, sanitizing frequently used surfaces, maintaining social distance, staying home if feeling ill.
“We have to have multiple barriers,” said Amy Jones, the department’s director of health promotion and preparedness.
“We need to try to restore our economy as best we can,” said board member Bob Midden. Finding the balance is the challenge.
When the Moving Forward BG movement says businesses will be safe, he wonders what the criteria will be. “Nothing is ever 100 percent safe. There are gradations in level of safety. I want to make sure that the public is well informed about that the risks are in various circumstances ,” he said.
While six feet is the measure for social distancing, infection can occur at 20 feet. There are cases of one person coughing in the middle of a restaurant infecting multiple people. Talking can spread droplets beyond six feet, Midden said.
“One person can infect 30 other people at a church service,“ Batey said.
So people need to stay home when they’re sick, and wear a mask in case they have the virus but don’t know it.
Board President Cathleen Nelson expressed frustration that the Wood County Fair is proceeding with having the event in some form. As someone involved in the fair’s flower show, she questions how social distancing can be maintained in that setting.
“I find it surprising anyone would be planning to do something that big this summer,” Nelson said.
While organizers of some events have consulted Batey, he said the fair has not. After the meeting, he said, he’s talked with organizers of the National Tractor Pulling Championships and the Black Swamp Arts Festival. His sense was both were considering what altered events may look like. The Pemberville Free Fair has already been canceled.
Event organizers may be looking at August as a long time off. With restaurants opening now, maybe by August it’ll be safe to have the event. “That might not be realistic,” he said.
And the fair should not count on the governor making the decision for them.
One of the keys to opening society is being able to trace those an infected person has had contact with.
Batey said he is working with the University of Toledo where nursing and public health students have been enlisted to do contact tracing. So far that’s been enough, he said, but he’s also talking with Bowling Green State University about training some public health students to do the work as those efforts gear up in the county.
Also, the board voted to allow employees to carry over accrued vacation time beyond two years, and for some employees to get a cash payout for up to half of their accrued vacation. Because of the demands on the department, employees have not been able to take vacation.
