Board of Health

CITY OF SALEM BOARD OF HEALTH MEETING MINUTES Virtual Meeting held via Zoom and also Recorded by SATV May 12, 2020 MEMBERS PRESENT: Dr. Jeremy Schiller, Paul Kirby, Geraldine Yuhas, Datanis Elias, Sara Moore OTHERS PRESENT: David Greenbaum, Health Agent, Suzanne Darmody, Public Health Nurse, Maureen Davis, Clerk of the Board, Patti Morsillo, City Council Liaison ATTENDEES ADDRESSED: Alan Hanscom, SATV TOPIC DISCUSSION/ACTION J. Schiller read aloud that, pursuant to Governor Baker’s orders, there exists COVID-19 Emergency Open Meeting Law Guidance regarding the implementation of virtual public meetings. 1. Call to Order 7:06pm 2. Approval of Minutes G. Yuhas motioned to approve the minutes. P. Kirby 2 nd. All in favor. (April 14, 2020) Motion passed. 3. Updates on COVID-19 D. Greenbaum said the situation is extremely fluid. Cases are slowing a little and we are at a plateau. The number of new cases is going down. Currently in Salem there are over 400 positive cases with 24 deaths. Guidance has been put out for phase reopenings. J. Schiller said the number of other health issues, such as heart attacks, etc., is down due to the shelter in place order, but they are still happening. S. Moore asked if demographic data is collected on cases, such a multi- family housing, etc. S. Darmody said yes, demographics are collected. Occupation is very important to know, such as whether or not they are health care workers, etc. D. Greenbaum said we don’t have specific numbers of Salem testing. The Mayor was hoping to do testing in high risk areas, such as 27 Charter St. We may partner with North Shore Medical Center for testing. D. Elias asked if we are testing everyone, even asymptomatic people. D. Greenbaum said we were at first, but guidance has changed. G. Yuhas asked if shelters have been tested. D. Greenbaum said the North Shore Family Health Center did some testing on the homeless and they all came back negative. S. Moore asked if North Shore Community Health Center had any pushback regarding immigration status, etc. D. Greenbaum said none that he is aware of. P. Kirby asked if it would be helpful to know the percentage of positive tests. D. Greenbaum said if we could get the total number of tests, we could subtract the positive cases to get the percentage of testing. 1|Page  J. Schiller said he and D. Greenbaum were at a meeting with lots of people from the medical community and he loves the idea of asymptomatic testing to show where we are at in the community. P. Kirby asked if people living in Salem who work at grocery stores can be tested. D. Greenbaum said grocery workers can be tested now, just as first responders can. He will have to confirm if they can be tested if they are asymptomatic. S. Darmody said we could test at Salem Heights and get hundreds of people tested. J. Schiller said there are three arms of testing; communities at risk, densely populated and most vulnerable. D. Greenbaum said we do not have the staff to administer testing. He has heard that the tests are only 75-80% accurate. He said we can identify places we feel are a priority. G. Yuhas asked if we could test by ward, like voting. D. Greenbaum said we could, but in the short-term we should test the most at risk. He will know the North Shore Medical Center mobile testing labs plan on Friday. J. Schiller said grocery stores seem to be the most congregated. He asked what other communities are doing. D. Greenbaum said the surrounding communities work well together and try to have similar orders, etc. J. Schiller said we can put a plan together for the Mayor and keep the lines of communication open. Attendee Alan Hanscom commented that if we don’t know if we have hit our peak, how can we think about reopening? He also commented on contact tracing. J. Schiller said more testing has been done in MA. We are 4 th in the country for the most testing. D. Greenbaum responded and said a ton of tracing is going on. We now have help from the Partners in Health community tracing collaborative. S. Darmody said Partners in Health has been very helpful since each case is not just one person. They have helped with language barriers, etc. She is also working with the school nurses now for contact tracing. 4. Chairperson Communications J. Schiller said D. Greenbaum has been amazing. He told S. Darmody that the Board is so appreciative of all her hard work. D. Greenbaum said it is a team effort by S. Darmody, the other staff and himself. J. Schiller said the Board is very appreciative. 5. Monthly Reports-Updates a. Public Health Nurse’s Report Report not available. b. Health Agent’s Report Report not available. D. Greenbaum said it will be a long process to reopening. Phase I reopening will start on Monday, 5/18/20. The reopening process will be data driven, not date driven. 2|Page  J. Schiller said this kind of situation really shows the importance of having a solid health department. D. Greenbaum said the budget will take a big hit and we will need the Board’s support. c. Administrative Report Copy available at the BOH office. d. Council Liaison Updates P. Morsillo said she appreciates that D. Greenbaum has given quick responses to her emails. The Council will take up the topic of accessory dwelling units (ADUs) and tax breaks, etc. It will need two votes. They are getting ready for the budget and are bracing themselves. She will attend a budget retreat on Saturday. P. Kirby motioned to approve the reports submitted. G. Yuhas 2 nd. All in favor. Motion passed. 6. New Business/Scheduling of Future Agenda Items D. Greenbaum said the subject of ice cream trucks has come up. The city of Peabody is allowing permitting of them with restrictions. He wonders if the Board would allow it. The Board can give him the authority. He will send the information to the Board. Attendee Alan Hanscom said he believes ventilation plays a part in the spread of the virus. D. Greenbaum said we know that virus spreads better indoors than outside. We will be looking at all of that. MEETING ADJOURNED: P. Kirby motioned to adjourn. S. Moore 2 nd. All in favor. Motion passed. 8:03pm Respectfully submitted, Maureen Davis Clerk of the Board Next regularly scheduled meeting is Tuesday, June 9, 2020 at 7:00pm Virtual Meeting Via Zoom 3|Page