KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — Tuesday, Kalamazoo County Health Officer Jim Rutherford provided an update on the state of COVID-19 in the community.
The update was made the night before Michigan will be entering a three-week pause, which is meant to help curb cases of COVID-19 across the state.
During a virtual County meeting, Rutherford spoke on various topics pertaining to the matter.
Academics –
Rutherford noted that Kalamazoo County High Schools will be moved to virtual learning for the time being, along with colleges like Western Michigan University, which will also be moving to virtual learning.
Other Kalamazoo-area universities, such as Kalamazoo College, have already moved to a full online learning plan. However, programs such as nursing will not be impacted for the time being, but Rutherford said the health department is working to figure out how those programs will be carried out.
Rutherford also talked about athletics in schools and universities.
“I do want to make you aware that, although athletics within K-12 are totally done for the next three works, that’s not necessarily the case within our collegiate environments,” Rutherford said. “Western Michigan University, as well as all of the other MAC schools and Big Ten, are able to implement interim guidance for contact sports. Their football season will continue, however, it will be extremely limited. There won’t be any spectators allowed into the games, with the exception of players, coaches, as well as media in terms of being able to televise the games themselves.”
Western Michigan University has been testing their football players multiple times a week ever its games were reinstated late last month.
Rutherford said he is confident that WMU Football is adhering to the health guideline requirements.
Dining –
“As most of you know, the pause eliminates the opportunity for in-facility dining, so they have to go back to take-out only and external dining,” Rutherford said. “As you can imagine, in Michigan, it gets very difficult to successfully accomplish exterior dining with the temperatures where they’re at, so this is certainly impacting them.”
Rutherford said he and his staff are working with local restaurants to make sure they have a clear understanding of the regulations.
“Our staff has been visiting every restaurant since the beginning of the week,” Rutherford said. “We’re working with all of our businesses, but in particular, restaurants.”
Vulnerable Populations –
Rutherford also touched on homeless and other vulnerable populations as they relate to COVID-19.
“We’re starting to see continuous communities have spikes in those populations,” Rutherford said. “Testing is becoming, again, a significant challenge all over. We still have ample opportunity for tests, we’re working with the Family Health Center. They’re gearing up some more of their large testing opportunities moving forward.”
Rutherford said one challenge facing the county is staffing for long-term care facilities, homeless populations and hospitals.
“That’s going to continue as we move through, not only our COVID incident, but also our significant rates with colds and seasonal influenza,” Rutherford said.
Rutherford also said there are issues with outbreaks inside these facilities.
“Unfortunately, that results in a relatively high rate of deaths,” Rutherford said. “Again, staffing issues are always a concern within these environments. When we talk about COVID vaccination, obviously this population is the most vulnerable within every community. Conversations need to continue as it relates to how we’re prioritizing that particular population.”
Vaccination –
Rutherford spoke on recent news of a COVID-19 vaccine, such as the news of a vaccine developed by Pfizer that shows an initial 90 percent effective rate in preventing illness. Moderna also announced a vaccine with an initial success rate of 94.5 percent.
“It’s anticipated that the Pfizer product will actually be delivered in early December,” Rutherford said. “That will go out through our phase 1 initiative, which is our health systems, high-risk health workers, first responders.”
He said there will be three additional phases of distribution, but those conversations are still being facilitated at this time. He said those conversations will be held with local health systems, pharmacies, and partners within the Family Health Center Emergency Preparedness regarding the vaccine launch.
Apps and Data –
Rutherford and the health department are also encouraging citizens to utilize the recently-launched app “MI COVID Alert,” which allows users to record a positive case and self-contact trace.
“We know that there’s not a county in the state of Michigan, or probably in the country, that is able to keep up with all the contact tracing we are encountering, certainly more now than ever before,” Rutherford said. “It’s important people use that app to report any COVID positives.”
More information on the MI COVID Alert can be found here, as well as the State of Michigan website here.
Rutherford also said his department is also working on a similar app that will be built into the Kalamazoo County Health Department website, which will allow users to type in a date of a confirmed infection. Following this, the app will tell the user how long they need to isolate or quarantine for.
“We encourage people to continue to utilize the county’s website for the COVID data, it’s always up-to-date, and there’s a plethora of great information that’s readily available,” Rutherford said.
Further Reading –
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