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Home My Public Portal About20201214 - Board of Health - Meeting Minutes HEALTH DEPARTMENT Town of Hopkinton, Massachusetts REMOTE MEETING Monday, December 14, 2020 MINUTES Members Present: Chairman Whittemore, Vice Chairman Jacobs and Mr. King Also Present:Shaun McAuliffe, Health Director; Kasey Mauro, Public Health Nurse Absent: Late Arrival(s): Early Dismissal: The meeting was called to order at 5:33 p.m. by Chairman Whittemore. Ms. LaRoche announced the “Script for Remotely Conducted Open Meetings” guidelines (attached). Members and participants role call for attendance: Chairman Whittemore-Yes Vice Chairman Jacobs-Yes Mr. King-Yes Shaun McAuliffe-Yes Kasey Mauro-Yes Nidia LaRoche-Yes Public Comment- Members of the community are invited to share ideas, state opinions or ask questions Ms. LaRoche announced that Joseph Robert has entered the Board of Health meeting and welcomed him. Request to Approve Board’s Meeting Minutes of November 30, 2020 Ms. LaRoche requested the Board’s approval for the meeting minutes of November 30, 2020. Vice Chairman Jacobs motioned to approve the minutes of November 30, 2020, as presented. Mr. King seconded. Roll Call Vote: Chairman Whittemore-Yes, Vice Chairman Jacobs-Yes, Mr. King-Yes. Department’s November 2020 (FY2021) Budget Summary Ms. LaRoche presented the November 2020 budget summary for the Board’s review. Revised Administrative Assistant Evaluation Ms. LaRoche offered the revised language Administrative Assistant FY2020 Evaluation for the Board’s review. Mr. McAuliffe indicated that the revisions were to some language changes due to evaluation materials not forwarded to him from the Human Resources Department which delayed Ms. LaRoche’s merit increase and retroactive pay. Mr. McAuliffe noted that as of today everything is moving forward and Ms. LaRoche will receive her increase and retroactive pay. Both Mr. McAuliffe and Chairman Whittemore stated that they are working with the Town Manager to address the historical issues related to the role of this position. Quarantine Guidelines Discussion and Regulation Update Mr. McAuliffe apprised the Board of the following State’s updated 3 Options Quarantine Guidelines & Regulations: BOH December 14, 2020-REMOTE MEETING Minutes Page 1 Approved January 4, 2021 Option 1. 7 Days of Strict Quarantine/Release on Day 8 IF: ●A test (either PCR or antigen) taken on Day 5 or later is negative; AND ●The individual has not experienced any symptoms up to that point; AND ●The individual conducts active monitoring through Day 14 Individual must actively monitor symptoms and take temperature once daily. IF even mild symptoms develop or the individual has a temperature of 100.0 F, they must immediately self-isolate, contact the public health authority overseeing their quarantine and get tested. Approximately 5% residual risk of disease development Option 2. 10 Days of Strict Quarantine/Release on Day 11 IF: ●The individual has not experienced any symptoms up to that point; AND ●The individual conducts active monitoring through Day 14. ●No test is necessary under this option Individual(s) must actively monitor symptoms and take temperature once daily. IF even mild symptoms develop or the individual has a temperature of 100.0 F, they must immediately self-isolate, contact the public health authority overseeing their quarantine and get tested. Approximately 1% residual risk of disease development Option 3. 14 Days of Strict Quarantine/Release on Day 15 IF: ● The individual has experienced ANY symptoms during the quarantine period EVEN if they have a negative COVID-19 test; OR ● The individual indicates they are unwilling or unable to conduct active monitoring. No additional active monitoring required/ Maximal risk reduction He noted that the Department prefers and advocates for Option 3, which was in place; however, this option creates certain financial hardships due to the 14 day length of quarantine. Ms. Mauro stated that with options 1 and 2 the participant will need to be actively self monitoring, if not, they will need to be placed on Option 3. Ms. Mauro stated that the antigen testing is available in Hopkinton at ReadyMed; however, if you just want to be tested without cause, you will be charged a fee. The FREE antigen testing, at ReadyMed, is only for individuals that are notified of close or potential contacts, or need a test to be provided to the employer, after the person has recovered from Covid 19, with a recommendation from the Health Department. Ms. Mauro announced that the State has free testing sites that the public may go to at www.Mass.gov/StoptheSpread to research the nearest FREE testing sites in their area. Mr. McAuliffe also announced that the Governor’s Office, effective December 13, 2020, has placed Massachusetts back to Phase 3, Sept 1 due to the increasing Covid19 cases from the Thanksgiving Holiday. The business that are affected by this are the following: BOH December 14, 2020-REMOTE MEETING Minutes Page 2 Approved January 4, 2021 ●Indoor & Outdoor Events ●Office Spaces ●Restaurants ●Fitness Centers and Health Clubs ●Golf Facilities The following are the web links for the public to acquire the Phase 3 Step 1 information for the sections mentioned: https://www.mass.gov/doc/sector-specific-workplace-safety-standards-for-fitness-centers-and-health-clubs-to-a ddress/download https://www.mass.gov/doc/sector-specific-workplace-safety-standards-for-golf-facilities-to-address-covid-19-12 1320/download https://www.mass.gov/doc/sector-specific-workplace-safety-standards-phase-iii-step-1-for-indoor-and-outdoor- events-to-0/download https://www.mass.gov/doc/sector-specific-workplace-safety-standards-phase-iii-step-1-for-office-spaces-to-add ress-0/download https://www.mass.gov/doc/sector-specific-workplace-safety-standards-phase-iii-step-1-for-restaurants-to-addre ss-covid-1/download Mr. McAuliffe noted that he has been made aware that the Governor is very reluctant to further roll back the phases due to the hardship imposed on all businesses and is very apprehensive of the upcoming holidays. Attestation Discussion Mr. McAuliffe stated that in relation to the attestation, there have been discussions with the State as to whether the Department should move back or adopt the old quarantine guidelines (14 day quarantine guideline) because of its restrictiveness and was informed that moving back or adopting the old quarantine guidelines is not recommended; due to the fact, that the department does not have the individual data to support it and does not have the support of the CDC or the DPH. Mr. McAuliffe announced that the HealthTrac App was issued to the Schools (December 3, 2020) and plays well with the new quarantine guidelines. It provides a platform for individuals to record their daily symptoms and provides a forum to discuss their self reporting and stop the spread of any type of illnesses not just Covid 19. He said that a legal question arose, as to whether the program should be rolled out without requiring parents to sign off, from a very small minority group. The department has obtained the Town’s legal department and will hear from them tomorrow in regards to the minority group’s question. Mr. McAuliffe said that he will discuss the outcome with the School Superintendent and will relaunch the App. This is a tool to have people pause to think about what and how they are feeling prior to going to school/work. Ms. Mauro noted that this App is for the schools to utilize but feels that the Schools are not enabling the App or disseminating it to the parents; therefore, it is not being widely used at this time. She said that the App has stopped a couple of cases of COVID19 to spread due to the diligence of using it. Mr. McAuliffe BOH December 14, 2020-REMOTE MEETING Minutes Page 3 Approved January 4, 2021 stated that COVID19 has not been the only disease that it has detected; it has stopped individuals with Norovirus and MRSA/Strep. At this point, Mr. Joseph Robert, 302 Hayden Rowe, posed a question in regards to the number of cycles of the PCR tests and asked if that was an issue. Mr. McAuliffe stated that they either require or request the individual to get tested once; there is no requirement or reason for the person to be tested again. Chances are that the person who tested positive will show a positive result up to 3 months. Water Ban Well Enforcement Regulation Discussion/Action Ms. LaRoche requested for this item to be tabled to a later Board of Health Meeting. The Board agreed to table this item for a later date. Coronavirus & Director’s Reports: Mr. McAuliffe brief the Board of the following regarding COVID-19: Vaping/Tobacco – The grant funds for the 2020/2021 vaping grant will be released as soon as I complete an annual report. The work to date has been funded from the residuals from our previous grant. We adapted our programming to provide coping strategies for all challenged by the pandemic. Nursing – Kasey has trained the nurses and college students to assist us with case management, reporting, follow-up and data entry. They are also managing the back of house operations related to the attestation software. Grants - We were awarded a $19,800 COVID-19 capacity grant from the Metrowest Health Foundation. The grant is funding our COVID-19 response activities and the acquisition of PPE. We were also able to secure an additional $14,000 to cover October to December 2020 class activities improving children’s and parent’s ability to manage pandemic related stress. Eversource - I will be participating in Eversource’s monthly safety meetings for the short term. My efforts should reduce workplace illness. Mosquitoes/EEE/WNV - I will be meeting with the MDPH to discuss 2021 forecasts. Ticks - The rate of illness is dropping as we enter the winter. That said, I am trying to find the time to work with the Eagle Scout that will assist with the completion of the trail signage project. Pools, Outdoor Programing and Camp Inspections - We are working with the YMCA to provide Fall and Winter service alternatives for the residents of Hopkinton. Food Inspections - We just updated our Food Code Pro software and look forward to completing rapid, risk-based inspections. The software has been updated to include COVID-19 compliance items. Operational Summary - The Department continues to manage its core responsibilities, including the issuance of permits, inspections of well and septic installations and investigation of complaints. Holiday Planning - We intend to distribute additional holiday planning guides as we did for Thanksgiving. We also want to address the pandemic’s effect on mental health. Budget Planning - I presented the draft budget. COVID-19 - We continue to observe a significant increase in the number of cases in Town. We have had 183 total cases between September 21, 2020 and today. The majority of the spread has come from workplace exposures outside of Hopkinton. Those workplace exposures have resulted in spread within the home (2 -4 additional cases per home). There have been several cases associated with travel, sports and family gatherings. We need to be mindful that every unnecessary outing is a potential exposure. As of 4:00 p.m. we have 321 (state has us at 323) total cases, 18 active, 288 recovered and 15 deaths. BOH December 14, 2020-REMOTE MEETING Minutes Page 4 Approved January 4, 2021 Kasey has been working tirelessly to support Golden Pond. As I previously reported, we deployed our antigen testing program to quickly diagnose and isolate residents that might have been exposed. Golden Pond is working closely with us. We facilitated testing at Fairview Estates. There was one positive case and one positive employee there. The Hopkinton FD’s EMTs did a terrific job at testing the residents. School contacts and cases have been consuming a large portion of our time. The new part time nurses and college students have done a great job at assisting us and helping us manage our current caseload. To date, we have no evidence of spread within the school. We are partnering with the school to develop other strategies to reduce cases in the school setting. We are effectively contact tracing to the Town Line. We are using CTC to complete the contact tracing process. We continue to assess our needs and will add to our list of volunteers as we near the time for COVID-19 vaccination ADJOURN: Mr. King motioned to adjourn the Board of Health Meeting at 6:35p.m. Vice Chairman Jacobs seconded. Role Call: Chairman Whittemore-Yes, Vice Chairman Jacobs-Yes, Mr. King-Yes. Respectfully Submitted, Nidia Ruberti LaRoche Health Department Administrative Assistant BOH December 14, 2020-REMOTE MEETING Minutes Page 5 Approved January 4, 2021