Informational Meeting

MINUTES Informational Meeting Tuesday, February 23, 2021 at 4:00 PM Carnegie Town Hall, 235 West 10th St., Sioux Falls, SD 57104 1. Call To Order Council Members Present: Janet Brekke (via telecom), Christine M. Erickson, Alex Jensen, Rick Kiley, Greg Neitzert, Marshall Selberg, Curt Soehl, Pat Starr Council Members Absent: None Council Chair Greg Neitzert called the meeting to order at 4 p.m. He acknowledged Council Member Janet Brekke's presence on the phone. 2. Councilor Remarks There was none. 3. Presentations A. COVID-19 Update by Jill Franken, Director of Public Health Presentation: Approximately 10 minutes followed by discussion Franken began her presentation by stating that the first COVID brief was given a year ago; and recognized the 500,000 nationwide COVID deaths, of which 406 were in the Sioux Falls community. She reviewed information on the Sioux Falls COVID Dashboard, which contained two weeks worth of data. Franken said they are seeing "real stability" and things are slowly trending downward. Hospitalizations are flat and down. She spoke about the six month snapshot which showed a 30% to 50% positivity rate, from November through January. The desired rate is 5%. Franken said it is consistently under 20%. Next she reviewed the New Daily Cases per capita. COVID cases are spread out across the state, in the beginning the Sioux Falls area had the majority of cases. Currently in South Dakota there are no COVID variants. Franken said, according to Dr. Joshua Clayton (State Epidemiologist), by March the U.K. variant will be the most dominant variant in South Dakota. In regards to vaccinations, she said South Dakota is ranked third in the country, after New Mexico and Alaska. Approximately 18% of the State has received their first dose and 9% have received their second dose. Franken spoke about vaccine availability and distribution and how Phase 1E will begin in April. The implementation of Phase 2 was also discussed. She added that a number of places are providing vaccinations. March will begin the rollout of the Community Vaccination Education Campaign. Sioux Falls residents will be able to find information on the City's website. Franken ended her presentation by speaking  briefly on the Influenza Season 2020-2021. She said there have been very few cases across the State. Discussion followed regarding: hospitalizations at the peak in November; location of current COVID patients in hospitals; zero COVID cases and low reporting; low testing numbers; percentage of people in the State that have been vaccinated versus number of people who have had COVID; herd immunity; COVID and the minority population in the State; mutating viruses; approved vaccinations; testing numbers versus unique people; changes in CDC recommendations and how that impacts the City; Phase 1D; biggest hold ups; comments from Council members who have received their first shots; percentage of people who have had COVID multiple times; nursing homes; how teachers and students are doing; mask policies for school districts; contact tracing; how are people without healthcare providers being notified; City's website and vaccination information; Indian Health; ability to go to either healthcare system for vaccinations; gratitude for schools being open; antibodies test; vaccine allocation in Lincoln and Minnehaha counties; and supply chain issues. 4. Public Comment There was none. 5. Adjournment Council Chair Greg Neitzert adjourned the meeting at 5:05 p.m. Brekke provided a brief update on the Tuthill House meeting that she attended. Neitzert readjourned the meeting at 5:06 p.m. Denise D. Tucker, MMC, Assistant City Clerk