Supervisors slate special meeting for Thursday to continue discussion, possibly take action
~by Janice Harbaugh for GreeneCountyNewsOnline
The rapidly rising rate of Covid-19 infection in Greene County prompted an hour- long community discussion at the board of supervisor’s meeting Monday. Eighteen people signed in electronically over Zoom to the meeting and more interested parties attended the meeting in person to discuss whether a mandated mask policy would help stem the tide of infection.
Board chair John Muir began the discussion by saying he has attended Emergency Operations Center meetings since March. “The numbers are not moving in the right direction,” he said. “It’s the whole state, but our main concern is Greene County, making it safer.”
Becky Wolf, Greene County public health director, described the county’s current 18.4 percent positivity rate as “a crisis” and “frightening.”
“It’s everywhere in Greene County,” Wolf said. “We can’t wait until we’re in dire straits (to take action.) The solutions are simple, but we must use them. We can’t rely on social distancing alone.”
Wolf has frequently spoken about the basic procedures of washing hands, maintaining social distance, and wearing face masks to prevent infection.
Medical Center CEO Tracy Warner said, “Cases are rising rapidly. It’s affecting the hospital’s ability to take care of people.” Warner described employees also becoming ill with Covid-19 in addition to the stress of caring for increasing numbers of patients.
Both Wolf and Warner asked the board to mandate the wearing of face masks in Greene County.
Keith Van Beek, member of the county board of health, attended electronically and said he is concerned at how quickly the positivity rate is changing. “It’s skyrocketing,” he said. “How many are infected with no idea (they are contagious)?”
Van Beek suggested a mask mandate until at least the end of the year.
Greene County School superintendent Tim Christensen said staffing is becoming an issue due to illness. “We might have to apply for remote learning,” he said.
According to the Iowa Department of Education website, a positivity rate of 15 percent or higher lasting more than two weeks and an absentee rate of 10 percent is necessary for school districts to request permission from the Iowa Department of Education to go to remote learning. Extracurricular activities such as athletics cease during times of remote learning.
Susan Moore, chief nursing officer at the hospital, attended electronically and used the written chat feature to communicate with everyone on Zoom. Her comments were relayed to those present in the board room.
Moore wrote, “The Governor of Iowa said she has not mandated masks because she is counting on the people to do the right thing. As we can see by the positivity rate, that is not occurring. We are to the point of being overwhelmed and fatigued and we need EVERYONE’s help. Thank you.”
Dennis Morlan, director of emergency management, said, “There’s a major concern that hospitals across the state are becoming crowded and short-staffed. People in Greene County could become ill and can’t be transported (to other hospitals if necessary.)”
Morlan also wanted to recognize the efforts of healthcare workers and he called on the media to report on the social and financial effects of the pandemic.
Muir said, “People have the obligation to do what medical people say needs to be done. It’s not getting fixed with what we’re doing now. How can we keep people healthy and get through this pandemic?”
County engineer Wade Weiss said, “This is a two-fold responsibility. We can try to avoid situations (where others aren’t wearing masks.) We’re responsible for ourselves, too.”
Chris Henning said, “We can choose to shop where masks are worn. We can choose where we go.”
The consensus of those attending the discussion seemed to be a mask mandate is necessary at this point of the pandemic in Greene County. There was discussion of penalties for not wearing masks and the role of law enforcement.
Muir said he had discussed the issues with county attorney Thomas Laehn and “Thomas feels legally we can mandate it.”
Toward the end of the hour, Muir said, “Enforcing a mask mandate is difficult, but I think we should pass a mandate for one month with no fines (for people not wearing masks.)”
Muir suggested the mask mandate be put on the board’s agenda for Nov. 16, with an option to hold a special meeting later this week. The board appeared to agree with considering the possibility of a countywide mask resolution.
UPDATE: A special board meeting has been scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 12, at 9 am to consider a face mask/face shield mandate for Greene County. Information about attendance by Zoom is under the calendar/agenda tab on GCNO.
