Supervisors host discussion on coronavirus implications
Nearly one year after the first case of COVID-19 was recorded in Yolo County, the Board of Supervisors met to discuss the impacts of the virus on the community.
In the COVID-19 Community Summit on Tuesday, supervisors heard from multiple panels involving: healthcare workers, businesses, local government and community. Dr. Aimee Sisson, the county’s public health officer, noted the extreme changes the county has overgone in the last year during her opening remarks.
She noted that, when the first COVID-19 case was announced on March 6, 2020 the county issued a statement saying “healthy people do not need to use a facemask to protect themselves against respiratory illnesses like COVID-19.”
She followed that with a quote from the press release sent out Feb. 23, which announced the move back to the red tier, “everyone has a role to play in keeping our community healthy, including wearing a face covering.”
“What a difference a year makes,” Sisson said. “And what a year it has been.”
The summit was designed to give different sectors impacted by the virus — and the closures put in place to control it — the chance to speak.
In the first panel, people representing different healthcare systems in the county spoke on their biggest challenges moving forward, as well as how they are distributing vaccines. Nearly every healthcare representative noted the fact that many county residents are prolonging preventative care, which could lead to more severe health issues in the future.
“Doing dental remotely doesn’t really work, you can imagine,” said Chris Kelsch, with Winters Healthcare. “Same with mental health, a lot of things are in person and people need to be here in order for it to happen and I think assuring folks that it’s okay to come back into the health center. It’s okay to start taking care of this. Most of our chronic disease indicators in terms of diabetes in terms hypertension all have gotten worse over time.”
As for vaccines, most providers are scheduling appointments online. The issue of outreach was also mentioned. CommuniCare made 1,200 phone calls to get their first 271 doses into the arms of their clients, according to Melissa Marshall, the chief executive officer for CommuniCare.
As things began to get better, and legislation aiming to prevent immediate devastation, Denice Domke, the executive director with the West Sacramento Chamber of Commerce warned of a “tsunami of upcoming commercial tenant evictions” that will primarily affect small businesses that have not been able to pay rent due to the pandemic. She also highlighted the need for affordable childcare in order to get women back into the workforce.
Those responsible for educating the public in both cities and schools throughout the county spoke next.
Nearly all locals focused on the importance of a diverse way of sharing information in order to keep the public aware of the ever changes restrictions around the county.
“If you educate and encourage appropriately, you generally get voluntary compliance,” said Bryan Johnston, the city of West Sacramento Fire Marshall. Johnston said that, at the beginning of the pandemic, outbreaks were happening in non-English speaking communities, and he had to work to reach out to those communities.
The city of Davis has been working hard at keeping their community safe with Healthy Davis Together, including by encouraging residents, those who work in Davis, and those who live with someone who works in Davis, to get tested up to twice a week.
The city has also set aside apartments and hotels for those who need to quarantine, said Davis Police Chief Darren Pytel.
The next section of the meeting focused on the most vulnerable members of the community, such as children, older adults and minority communities, and how COVID-19 has affected their lives.
Chair of the Yolo County Health Council, Evan Priestly, noted that health equity is still something the county needs to remain vigilant on, especially for groups who have historically been left out of the healthcare system.
In Yolo County, only 1% of residents who have been vaccinated for COVID-19 identify as Black. That’s compared with over 36% who identify as white.
“We’re not going to reach health equity during a pandemic,” Priestly said.
Additionally, like small business owners, there are many people who have not been able to pay their rent due to the pandemic. “So there’s this potential wave of evictions,” said Ian Evans, the adult and aging branch director with the Yolo County Health and Human Services Agency.
Evans said he has also seen an extreme decrease in those seeking treatment for substance abuse issues. In fact, this is the first time in about five years that the county has seen a decrease in those seeking treatment — which will likely lead to a spike in need once the pandemic subsides.
Yolo County recorded 10 new COVID-19 cases Tuesday — the last day the dashboard was updated — and has gone days without a new death. The vaccination process is continuing to improve as well.
However, Chairman of the Board of Supervisors Jim Provenza, noted that the summit presented multiple issues in the county that will not subside along with COVID-19.
“Although there is light at the end of the tunnel, that light is further away for some people and some people will never see that light,” Provenza said.