Brief intro discussion about how tourism traffic might be impacted by online schooling options for families if visitors stay longer in the year.
HEALTHCARE UPDATE:
Cascade Medical Center: Continuing to test. Running about an 8-9% positivity rate, which is mostly unchanged. Mask mandate has increased mask wearing in Cascade. Hoping that will lead to reduced incidents of positives. Continue to have drive through testing service.
St. Lukes: Statewide: 74 patients (4+ form last week). 17 in ICU. 17 ventilated. Capacity in McCall is still in good shape. Still sending COVID positive patients to Boise. In McCall: 1564 tests to date, 88 positives. Hosting a second town hall tomorrow to talk about back to school protocols.
CDH: Our (Valley County) case count remains relatively low thanks to efforts to mitigate spread. School operating protocols have been front and center as a priority. Masks in school have been a hot topic–kids and masks can be tricky. There is a lot of anxiety observed around folks not wearing masks or wearing them incorrectly.
Some discussion about hardware and dividers in the classroom and how to retrofit facilities. Additional questions about when masks are less necessary in an indoor environment where social distancing can be achieved.
Long term impacts of the virus–some links shared: WHO: https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2020-07-30/who-warns-of-unknown-long-term-effects-from-coronavirus
Germany Study: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamacardiology/fullarticle/2768916
Some discussion about if/how to have the Cascade softball tournament. 20 teams. Need to work with CDH on protocols. Anette from McCall also offered to share info from the City of McCall’s experience with sporting events from Parks and Rec. Dept.
We need to look into mental health aggregation resources and processes. VCORP and YAC are working on mental health options.
Additional discussion about how to advocate for folks who have medical exemptions for masks, but are getting harassed in the community. St. Lukes may be able to do some outreach and look into getting plastic face shields for lower income folks with exemptions. Empathetic solutions are key. CDH and the hospitals can be a resource for this discussion.
MARKETING:
Mask videos are out there and making the rounds. Mostly been well received, but there are still some naysayers. Kindness campaign is off and running. Libraries are distribution points for the cards. Andrew and McKenzie and the team can continue to work on resource lists and a decision tree.
Government team is interested in firming up what the benchmarks look like for future operating protocols and mask mandates. How do we move from red to yellow to green and why, as things evolve? St. Luke’s Town hall will cover some of this. City of McCall is also having ongoing discussions with policy folks. TOWN HALL LINK:
The remaining discussion was on the red, yellow, and green statuses for the schools and the need for personal computers. The school has not gotten the 250 that they ordered. MDSD is getting in touch with the donation program from Boise and will let us know how we can help.
Local COVID Help Line: https://ioem.idaho.gov/covidhelpnow/
Adjourn.