county commission

To get out of this pandemic, people need to get vaccinated

Karen Newman

Clay County Commissioners directed Clay County Public Health (CCPH) staff to resume their weekly Covid updates until further notice at their August 24 meeting. Commission Chair Kevin Campbell greeted CCPH Environmental Health Specialist Becky Schmidt, CCPH Public Health Administrator Kathy McKay and CCPH Director of Nursing Jamie Hennen by expressing the commission’s pride in CCPH’s work and added, “Even with all the hard work you’re doing, you can still come in here with a smile.” 

Hennen reported, “We are seeing an uptick in hospitalizations on the Minnesota and North Dakota sides based on the data that we have been getting.”  In response to a question about whether a hospitalized individual’s vaccination status is included in the data, Hennen answered that it is not.

“We are seeing an uptick in active cases compared to last week in the 0-4 and 5-9 ages. Our younger kids who are not vaccinated are where we are seeing the increase,” said Hennen.  Statistics about active cases/age group to date include:

·         13 active cases in the 0-4 age group

·         11 active cases in the 5-9 age group

·         14 active cases in 10-14 age group

·         18 active cases in the 15-19 age group

The highest number of current Clay County active Covid cases is 21 in the 30-34 age group.

Hennen offered information about vaccine clinics.  CCPH provided 168 doses of Covid vaccine during the week of August 15. The department vaccinated 60 students at MSUM on August 21. They held a clinic at Concordia on August 24 as well as an event at DGF schools the same day. Public health staff will be providing vaccination services to the homeless shelter and at Horizon Middle School on August 25. A vaccine clinic is scheduled at the Family Service Center (FSC) on Thursday, August 26, from 1 PM to 5 PM offering Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. Kathy McKay added that a vaccine for 5 to 11-year-olds is not anticipated to be ready for a few months yet.   

Commissioner Jenny Mongeau inquired about the status of reallocating vaccine if a vial is opened.  “We are doing our best to do that,” Hennen replied. “What we have been doing at the end of the clinics at the FSC is checking with the homeless shelter and with corrections at the jail and at the juvenile detention center. That is what we have been doing with our extra doses.”

Health Specialist Becky Schmidt reported that breakthrough cases are extremely rare. She anticipates the number of breakthrough cases may increase due to the significant impact of community spread. Clay County is now considered to be at the high community transmission rate according to MDH data.

Kathy McKay reported that MDH and CDC are still recommending masks for vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals in public settings. She said that some, though not all, Clay County departments report 90% vaccination rates.  Priorities for CCPH include vaccination, masking, cleaning, and social distancing. McKay emphasized, “To get out of this pandemic, we need people to get vaccinated.”

McKay explained, “The high-risk areas are really the schools. When you think about those kids that are 5-11 years old, they can’t get the vaccine. They won’t be able to get the vaccine for a number of months, potentially. They are in class all day.  It’s going to be all in-person learning to begin with. Those are areas to really think about.” McKay added that as far as county programs go, the WIC program is not doing in-person meetings under a federal mandate. Public Health doesn’t do in-home visits where there are children unless it is an emergency or the family requests it.

Commissioner Jenna Kahly moved to institute a mask requirement for all county-owned buildings in public spaces where social distancing cannot be maintained. She further moved that this requirement remain in place until Clay County has 14 days of low to moderate transmission or until a different recommendation is issued from CCPH.  As the commissioners discussed Kahly’s motion, which was seconded by Ebinger, Commission Chair Campbell reminded the group that CARES Act dollars were utilized to make county buildings as Covid-safe as possible. 

Commissioner Jenny Mongeau added “We, as a board, spent millions of dollars of federally-allocated funds to make sure that we put provisions in place to allow us to safely move forward out of Covid.” She continued, “We put parameters in place that keep our staff safe; they keep the public safe. We have the ability to have a remote work environment for folks that may not feel safe.  We also have the ability for folks to work if they’re in quarantine or citizens that may not want to come in face-to-face to do virtually everything remotely.

On a roll call vote of 3-2, the motion was defeated with Commissioners Ebinger and Kahly voting for the motion and Commissioners Gross, Mongeau and Campbell against it.  

Commission Chair Campbell instructed Clay County Administrator Stephen Larson to have the County Management Team discuss the defeated motion and make recommendations based on their individual departments’ needs and experiences.