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Harrison News-Herald Health and Safety
Saturday, October 9, 2021
COVID UPDATE
Conservancy District reveals survey on mask-vaccine policies BY JD LONG
jim@harrisonnewsherald.com
NEW PHILADELPHIA—Last Friday, Director of Human Resources Mary Burley of the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District revealed a COVID-19 survey she administered to the Tuscarawas County chapter of the Society of Human Resources Management. And the survey led to a lengthy discussion on how to navigate the District through the COVID minefield. “So, the survey basically asked people, ‘Are you mandating a vaccine? Are you incentivizing people to get vaccines? Are you disincentivizing if they don’t have a vaccine?’” She said the survey was conducted before President Joe Biden’s recent COVID mandate requiring employers with 100 or more employees to get vaccinated or receive weekly testing. But Burley added that the 100-employee mandate does not affect the District because they are not a private entity. “And it’s gray right now what affects public employers,” she told the board. Then Chief Counsel Jonathan Mizer took over, further explaining where he stated the Biden administration issued the emergency coverage through OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration). He said it was wait-and-see for the Public Employee Risk Reduction Program and its direction regarding vaccine or mask mandates. He continued that it was still unclear if home testing would be good enough or if a COVID test at a doctor’s office is better. “We don’t know yet how broad that’s going to be,” Mizer stated. But he wasn’t sure if the employee or the employer would
have to pay for any testing. He felt that, along with specifics needing clarifying, he would also expect challenges to the mandates. Board member Joanne Limbaugh noted some mask mandate bills being introduced in the Ohio legislature are facing heavy resistance. And executive director Craig Butler felt the bill would not make it past the Senate but asked if the District should take some kind of action now or wait and see how the issue plays out in the general assembly. Burley explained that the District was determined to be a low-work environment, contrasted with hospitals or nursing homes. “So, any of the standards for COVID, we’ve not been a high-risk environment,” she told the board. Burley also revealed data they’d been collecting since COVID first hit for cases just within the Conservancy District. Since March 2020, 20 employees have tested positive, with two from the delta variant. Thirty-seven employees have been quarantined “as close contact,” and 28 of the 37 were in close contact with someone outside the workplace. “So, that’s a pretty high number,” Burley stated. “So what that tells me is that protocols we put in place at work, either because we were teleworking, we were social distance, we were wearing masks. There weren’t a whole lot of situations where employees were [in] close contact with each other with these twenty positive people.” She said the recent positive COVID cases did not cause anyone to be infected because the people they worked with had been vaccinated. Vaccinated people don’t have to be quarantined, Burley added.
Dept. of Health’s Vax-2-School lottery initiative ups the ante
COLUMBUS—Earlier this week, Ohio Department of Health director Bruce Vanderhoff, MD, and Ohio Lottery Commission director Pat McDonald provided an update on the Ohio Vax-2-School program, announcing that the prize money has been doubled to a total of $2 million in scholarships. Beginning last Monday, Ohioans aged 1225 can enter online at www.ohiovax2school. com or by phone at 1-833-427-5634 to win one of 150 $10,000 scholarships or one of five $100,000 grand-prize scholarships. The scholarships, awarded in Ohio 529 College Advantage plans, can be used at the Ohio college, university, technical/trade school, or career program of the winner’s choice. The Ohio Department of Health is using a portion of its Coronavirus Relief Funds to fund the public outreach campaign and initiative. In addition, the state hopes to expand the age group to include younger Ohioans. “We are hearing promising news following the clinical trial and safety data submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) by Pfizer for their COVID-19 vaccine for 5- to 11-year-olds,” explained Dr. Vanderhoff. “In anticipation of a COVID-19 vaccine being authorized for children as young as 5 in the near future, we have decided to broaden the Ohio Vax-2-School program to include this age group, should they become eligible for vaccines.” Ohio Vax-2-School is an opt-in program, meaning that you must enter to be eligible for the prize drawings. Any Ohioan in the
MASK-WEARING FROM PG.-3
by around 100, but overall cases are now at just 10, including both students and staff. “We’re willing to work with any parent that has some problem with their child wearing a mask,” Snider stated. “Some students just can’t handle it.” She also told the board that they informed parents that their children could risk being quarantined without masks. Reasons to forgive mask-wearing could be religious or medical, but she mentioned that only four parents sent formal notes stating why their child won’t wear a mask. “We want students in school. We want them educated, so I’m very pleased with the results now,” Snider said. The board gave unanimous approval, and president D.J. Watson reminded the public that the school board does not set the quarantine guidelines. He stated that the school follows the guidelines set by either the CDC or the Harrison County Health Department. “These guidelines are set up by the CDC or the health department [and] they control how that situation plays out,” Watson explained, adding that he was also in favor of continuing the mask mandate if it keeps students in the classroom. Snider repeated that Harrison Hills City School District is not in charge of any quarantine rule, referencing numerous phone calls she’s already received on the subject. “We have no say in the quarantining,” Snider said. “We give them the data... but we do not quarantine. The Harrison County Health Department [is the] authority, so there’s some confusion there.” She continued that the board voted for no masks in prior months but that it didn’t work. “It was important...that we tried,” she told the board.
eligible age group, currently 12-25 (with possible expansion from 5-25), can enter and are encouraged to enter only after receiving at least one dose of the vaccine. Individuals who entered but did not win Ohio’s Vax-A-Million drawings are eligible, but they must enter the Ohio Vax-2-School program, as entries do not carry over. There is no required time frame for which past vaccinations must have occurred. “We had great success with Vax-a-Million, and we’re excited to assist the Department of Health again with this new initiative to help encourage younger Ohioans to get vaccinated,” Ohio Lottery Director Pat McDonald said. “We are hopeful that the $2 million in scholarship prizes will provide an incentive, much like Vax-a-Million did, to help speed up the vaccination timeline for Ohioans,” explained Dr. Vanderhoff. “As you will recall, in the first week after Ohio Vax-A-Million was announced, there was a 44% increase compared to the base in vaccination rates for those 16 and older, and a 15% boost the following week. For all ages, there was a 106% increase compared to the base in the first week, and a 53% increase the second week.” A deadline to enter and drawing dates have not yet been announced. However, the Ohio Department of Health and the Ohio Lottery Commission will share those details in the weeks ahead, allowing as much time as possible for an emergency use authorization (EUA) to be granted for the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for those ages 5-11.
Jewett resident brings speeding problem into spotlight BY JD LONG jim@harrisonnewsherald.com JEWETT—Complaints have been heard before, but another resident, Kurt, spoke at Wednesday’s Jewett council meeting and made clear that speeding traffic was a problem, especially near his residence on Ohio 151. “It has started getting to the point the traffic has become really unsafe —not the amount of traffic, just the speed at which the traffic travels,” Kurt explained. “We’ve buried, in the past couple of months, five different pets because people coming into town are hitting basically the line at 55 miles an hour. And the people leaving town seem to think it’s a drag strip.” He also alluded to a neighbor’s pet that had been killed and asked the council, “How long before we’re burying people?” He said Jewett is a beautiful little town, and the east side should be taken care of like the west side and other towns. Council member Paul Prevot pointed out that the corporation limit sign is prevalent on the west side, compared to around 500 feet when entering the village on the east side. Kurt said one person calling the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) would not be as effective as the community informing the state what they need to curb the problem. “But we as a group, as a village, as a community, come together and push this forward to ODOT and our state legislatures, we can get something done,” he told council members. Village solicitor Jenna Hokes said that reduced speed signs could be placed without a state study, and the council felt it was a good idea.
Humankindness is the light that guides us forward.
