Board of Health

BOH MEETING MINUTES 10-12-2021 Council Committee Room, 140 Main Street Joseph Tennyson, MD, Chair Jim Griffin, Vice-Chair Phillip Short, Member - Member Also in attendance: Director John Garside and Clerk Tina Nolin Meeting called to order 6:30 pm Reading and Approval of Minutes • Minutes for September 13, 2021 meeting: Vice-Chair Griffin motioned to approve and place the minutes on file. Chairman Tennyson seconded the motion; the Board vote was 3-0 to approve the motion to accept the minutes. New Business • Discussion & Update of Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Director Garside updated the Board on the recent activities of the Health Department regarding COVID-19. COVID-19 Cases The number of active cases in the City is currently 76, we have 147 cases per 100K over seven days, and the average daily number of cases over the past seven days is 9.1 per day. The average number of active cases per day over the past seven days is 51.1, and the positivity rate over the past two weeks is 2.08%. The City remains at "high risk" of transmission. In the Marlborough Public Schools system-wide, nine students are in isolation (positive for COVID-19), and 28 are quarantined. None of the cases were exposed at school. The specific school breakdown is as follows School Positive Cases Quarantined Cases Kane 2 4 Richer 3 11 Jaworek 2 4 Goodnow 0 2 Whitcomb 1 5 High School 1 1 ECC 0 1 AMSA 6 2 Assabet 4 14 Vaccine Update In the schools, Marlborough High School has 65% of the student body fully vaccinated, while the Middle School has 63% of its population fully vaccinated. We currently have 75% in the City with at least one dose, compared to 73% last month and 68% fully vaccinated compared with 66% last month. So we continue to make progress, albeit slowly of late. Chairman Tennyson  Board of Health Minutes October 12, 2021 p2 noted, however, that the City's vaccination rates are a lot better than other cities with similar population diversity Director's Update The department has hired a new Assistant Sanitarian, Emily Lao. She will be starting on October 25th. Emily is a graduate of UMASS Amherst in environmental science, has interned at the Barnstable County Health Department, and was a recycling inspector in the City of Lynn. We will have her in and introduce her to the Board at next month's meeting. The department held a Flu clinic on September 22nd at the COA, where it administered 90 doses of flu vaccine. On October 5th, we ran a clinic at 250 Main Street for residents of Marlborough housing, where we immunized a dozen individuals. Coming up on October 13th, we will be holding a Flu clinic for city employees, and on October 19th, we will hold a second City Flu clinic at the COA. Regarding COVID-19 vaccinations for children under 12, I have a meeting with the Superindentent Mike Bergeron and Brian Bouvier from Bouvier Pharmacy regarding Bouvier Pharmacy hosting a clinic at Marlborough High School as soon as possible that group becomes eligible. The thinking is it would be a Saturday morning or afternoon event, followed by a Tuesday evening event for first doses and three weeks later having two similar events on Saturday and Tuesday to administer second doses. Busing will be provided to get students to the event. This will be a joint effort between the school, Bouvier Pharmacy, and the Health Department, with Bouvier handling vaccine administration. Once Moderna has approval for boosters, the department will reach out to those populations we typically and previously served (elderly, city employees, first responders) to give them their booster shots. AAA Vape, we have sent a cease and desist order for selling flavored products. To date, we have not received a request for a hearing from them or payment of the $1000 fine. They do still have several days regarding the payment. AAA Vape has had several warnings regarding selling flavors in the past, so the order should come as no surprise to them. Last week three housing condemnation orders were issued; all three came to the department via police and emergency responders. The Director explained that some of what the department is seeing and may continue to see is related to COVID, with inspections by all parties being less frequent and mental health issues being exacerbated by the isolation and stress of the pandemic. The risk level for EEE remains "remote," while there is a "moderate" risk of West Nile Virus (WNV) in our area. A mosquito in Marlborough tested positive for WNV, resulting in spraying on September 22nd in the City's Concord Road - Sudbury Street area. As of now, testing season is over, and the mosquito population should be decreasing.  Board of Health Minutes October 12, 2021 p3 Subdivision Site Plan & Special Permit Reviews The Director presented the site plan for a new Starbucks going in at Wayside Crossing Shopping Plaza located at 661 Boston Post Road E. – no motion or vote was required. Unknown Business at Time of Posting There was no unknown business Scheduling of Next Meeting The next meeting of the Board will be on Tuesday, November 8th, at 6:30 pm. Attendance will be in person at City Hall in the Council Committee Room. ADJOURN Vice-chair Griffin motioned to adjourn the meeting at 6:52 pm; Chairman Tennyson seconded the motion; the roll call vote was 3-0 in favor to adjourn. Respectfully submitted, 11-8-2021 Dr. Joseph Tennyson Dated Cc: Board of Health Members City Council, City Clerk, and City of Marlborough Website