By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Testing and contact tracing for COVID-19 are about to get a boost in Wood County.
With the help of $531,000 in federal funds, Wood County Health Department will soon be offering more widespread testing for COVID-19.
And with another $136,000 from the Ohio Department of Health, the local public health staff will be able to continue contact tracing to try to pinpoint those who have come in contact with people testing positive for COVID-19.
The Board of Health voted Thursday evening to accept those funds, plus to create a new full-time epidemiologist position. The doubling of the department’s epidemiologists will allow one to focus on infectious diseases, and the other on chronic diseases.
“Right now the need is really huge,” Wood County Health Commissioner Ben Batey said to the board.
Gov. Mike DeWine announced Thursday afternoon that COVID-19 testing will soon be available to anyone who wants to be tested. In many cases, the testing will be provided by health care providers.
The only open testing currently being done in Wood County is at a Mercy clinic in Perrysburg.
But with the new federal funding, the health department will be able to offer testing to more than just the regular patients at the county health center. The agency is working on plans to open up testing to local first responders and to the community at large.
“We’re working on a plan right now,” said Diane Krill, CEO of the Wood County Community Health Center.
That plan may involve using the National Guard at some point to help with testing sites.
“We know we need to get that process in place,” Krill said.
The tests will be self-administered, which will decrease exposure for the staff. But the health department will need to have plenty of personal protective equipment on hand, Krill said.
Currently, only positive COVID tests must be reported to the health department, so it is unknown how many local residents have been tested for the virus.
“While that would be helpful, we don’t have a way to collect that data,” Batey said.
Recently, the health department has received some reports of negative tests, according to Amy Jones, the department’s director of health promotion and preparedness.
Board member Richard Strow said it would be helpful for that information to be reported to the public.
“Right now, all we’re hearing about are the cases that are coming back positive,” he said.
But Jones and Batey said the health department has no good data on the negative test results.
Batey and Jones also reported on the push back that some public health officials are getting when they try to use contact tracing to find those potentially exposed to the virus. Some people are refusing to answer questions, citing privacy concerns or stating they don’t want their contacts to go through quarantine.
“We walk a fine line of keeping people as safe as possible,” without trampling on freedoms, Batey said. He compared it to smoking – which is a public health hazard, but people are still free to use tobacco.
Board member Bob Midden asked about the level of resistance seen locally to contact tracing.
“That is probably the most effective tool we have for restricting transmission” of COVID-19, he said. “It could be extremely beneficial” for public health and the economy, he added.
“We’ve actually been very lucky,” Jones said, noting that most Wood County residents have been cooperative with contact tracing efforts.
“They don’t want other people to feel crappy, because they feel crappy,” she said.
But other health departments in Ohio aren’t seeing the same level of compliance.
“We are hearing from our colleagues that they are having some issues with that,” Jones said.
Batey credited the contact tracing success in Wood County for reducing COVID cases.
“Honestly, I think that’s a huge part of why our numbers are where they are,” he said.
And the results go beyond the health of individuals.
“The more we can reduce the spread, the more we can open up the economy,” Midden said.
Also at Thursday’s board of health meeting, Batey addressed the announcement earlier in the day that Dr. Amy Acton was stepping down as director of the Ohio Department of Health.
“Unfortunately, Dr. Acton chose to resign her position,” Batey said.
“She did a lot of great work down there,” he said.
Midden asked if her resignation was a sign of a new direction for the state.
“Do you think this represents a shift in the fundamental policy regarding COVID?” he asked.
Batey said he knew the demands and pressures were immeasurable.
“I know she got dragged into a lot of politics,” he said.
“I’m glad Dr. Acton will still at least be serving in an advisory role” to the governor, Batey said.
A shift is expected toward a new regional approach to the pandemic – with close focus on local hospital capacities and local risk levels.
“Should the system be county by county driven? Should it be regional? Should it be statewide?” Batey said. “The virus doesn’t really care about county lines.”
“I see us trying to navigate toward an alert level system,” Batey said. “I think this is the goal as we move toward the future.”
The key, however, is that the public needs to be willing to listen when new alerts are reported.
Board President Cathy Nelson noted that when the pandemic first hit, an estimated 80% of people wore masks when grocery shopping. Those numbers have dropped drastically.
That is likely due to the early efforts which kept local virus numbers so low, Batey said.
“I expect people to become more and more complacent,” he said. “Hopefully they listen to us when it’s time for that.”
Batey said he has met with officials from the Wood County Fair, and will be meeting with officials from the National Tractor Pulling Championships next week. The guidance from the state has changed in the last few weeks, he explained.
The state started out with strong mandatory requirements for fairs. “Most of that guidance was walked back by the state,” he said.
Decisions have not been made yet on either the county fair or tractor pull.
“It just seems like it’s a minefield,” Midden said.
“It does create some logistical hurdles,” Batey agreed.
