‘Be prepared for a rise in cases’: Officials tell health board they’re concerned about possible spike in COVID cases

GALENA–The Jo Daviess County Health Department is applying for a federal pass through a grant from the CARES Act. The county has been allotted approximately $817,600. Jo Daviess County Public Health Administrator Sandra Schleicher told the board of health at its Wednesday, June 3 meeting that she is working out numbers on how to spend the grant. A majority of the grant is to be used for contact tracing.

“This testing is intended for close contacts of a positive case,” said Schleicher.

Currently, Schleicher is doing contact tracing on her own and she is weighing the possibility of adding another employee to the health department from the grant funding.

Schleicher told the board that the grant is generalized in what the funding can be used for, other than contact tracing. She said other health departments she has talked to are looking to use the funding for rental space for testing and housing coronavirus patients or buying a vehicle to assist with COVID response. Another potential use of the grant could be for an interpreter. Schleicher said the grant is not one lump sum check. There will be monthly and quarterly reimbursements.

Mass testing is another possibility for the grant, but the extent that the county can handle mass testing will be put to a test on Friday, June 5. Schleicher informed the board that one of the individuals involved in a crash outside of Stockton on Tuesday, June 2 tested positive for COVID. The health department, along with Midwest Medical Center, will have 90-minute testing locations in Elizabeth and Stockton to test first responders that were at the scene. Schleicher mentioned Elizabeth and Stockton ambulance services responded along with first responders from Lena and Pearl City.

“Friday should be a good test run,” said Tracy Bauer, board of health member and CEO of Midwest Medical Center.

Schleicher and Bauer are both concerned about a possible spike in cases in Jo Daviess County due to the reopening of many businesses in the area.

“I think with people out and about we will see more cases,” said Schleicher.

“Be prepared for a rise in cases for the next month,” said Bauer. “I think we will see a spike in cases. We are starting to see more cases at Midwest Medical Center due to testing elective surgery patients. Some are asymptomatic. We are also preparing for October and November as a potential for a second wave that will hit us at the same time as influenza.”

Catastrophic Public Health Fund

Schleicher asked the board about assistance on how to utilize the catastrophic public health fund. In March, the county board transferred funds from the department’s capital investment fund to the catastrophic public health fund. The catastrophic public health fund was transferred to the capital investment fund during the last budget cycle due to the new Elizabeth properties and the inactivity of the fund.

“The county board didn’t get board of health approval to do so,” said Schleicher. “As of now we have not expended any money out of the fund. It would be used for the vaccination clinic or alternative housing.”

Schleicher said the department has created an alternate housing plan and three hotels have agreed, but only for asymptomatic patients.

The board agreed to continue the current purchasing procedure and asked that Schleicher advise the board as the pandemic continues. Currently, the public health administrator can expend $5,000 on an item without approval from the board.

COVID update

Schleicher gave the board of health an update on COVID cases in the county. As of June 3, the county had 32 cases and 12 pending cases. There have been 659 negative cases.

Schleicher said the turnaround time for tests varies based on where the test is conducted and can range from a day to five to six days. The tests come back to the resident county after the patient is tested. Schleicher said they receive tests from Midwest Medical Center, Freeport Health Network, Monroe Clinic, Mayo Clinic and other regional hospitals.

Schleicher informed the board that there have also been two positive antibody tests performed in the county.

Schleicher is investigating the possibility of adding an antibody test to the lab draw program at the health department. She has reached out to the department’s test provider. A price for the antibody test is still to be decided.

Other business

The board also:

•discussed the former Elizabeth Nursing Home as a potential site for the Jo Daviess County Health Department. The board will discuss their interest with Elizabeth Nursing Home board members at a future meeting.

“I would be interested,” said board member Don Hill.

•learned the health department received a $38,600 COVID grant for overtime and extra expenses. Currently, Schleicher, a salaried employee, is the only staff member who has worked beyond her normal hours. The grant will also be used for cleaning supplies.

•approved Jim Wolf Appraisal Service of Lena as the appraiser for the Elizabeth properties. The Elizabeth properties were purchased for a potential move and an addition of a dental clinic to the health department, but recently the board has decided against the move and to re-sell the property.

•learned that the health department budget is on track for fiscal year 2020.

•elected Lisa Haas as board of health secretary.

•approved a revised job description for the department’s community outreach specialist/emergency response coordinator.

Schleicher said this position originally started as a part-time position a few years ago and later became a full-time position. The position has not been filled for the past year.

“Up until the past few months it wasn’t a big deal for me to do those tasks,” said Schleicher. “Now it is.”

The job description will now include that the position will handle public information and social media for the department. The qualifications were scaled back from a bachelor’s degree to an associate’s degree.

•learned that Schleicher is figuring out a way to work with municipalities that want to have festivals and has fielded many fireworks questions in recent weeks.

•learned of a civil lawsuit filed against environmental health about a complaint. The case will not be continued until July.

•learned of the resignation of G. Allen Crist from the board of health.

•learned that Schleicher is working on expanding the statistics that are released on COVID patients to include more demographic information.