Callaway County, health department prioritize COVID-19 funding

Callaway County Commissioners Randy Kleindienst, left, Gary Jungermann and Roger Fischer talk to Kent Wood and Sharon Lynch, of the Callaway County Health Department, about the potential COVID-19 response funding. The CCHD's top priority is keeping its staff healthy and available to fight the disease's spread.
Callaway County Commissioners Randy Kleindienst, left, Gary Jungermann and Roger Fischer talk to Kent Wood and Sharon Lynch, of the Callaway County Health Department, about the potential COVID-19 response funding. The CCHD's top priority is keeping its staff healthy and available to fight the disease's spread.

When COVID-19 response funding trickles down to the local level, county officials want to be ready.

The three Callaway County Commissioners met with Director Sharon Lynch and Kent Wood, of the Callaway County Health Department, to discuss how to prioritize disease funding. The CCHD's top priority is keeping its staff healthy and available to fight the disease's spread.

"The main thing, to me, is staffing - setting up in a way we can handle and work these cases through in-house," Wood said. "We're going to have to beef up, be ready to go to sites and give vaccines once those become available."

Federal funds might also help provide security for future vaccination drives. As Wood pointed out, during previous health crises such as the H1N1 flu outbreak, counties weren't provided with enough vaccines to give one to every resident. Instead, they were instructed to prioritize the most vulnerable (in that case, children and pregnant women).

"There could be that one person who's going to show up and say, 'Little Timmy's going to get a shot before anyone else, and I have a .45 to make that happen,'" Wood said wryly.

A vaccine could take a year to arrive, Lynch clarified. In the meantime, health department staff may also be tasked with providing education on prevention techniques and - if and when cases crop up in Callaway County - checking in on patients in at-home quarantine.

Also prioritized: purchasing personal protective equipment and cleaning supplies. Wood noted the health department is currently well-supplied on PPE and has shared extra cases with the Fulton Fire Department, Callaway Ambulance District and Central Callaway Fire Protection District.

"The only thing we're light on is N95 masks," he said.

Last week, the U.S. Congress passed a $8.3 billion emergency funding bill to combat the new virus, which President Donald Trump quickly signed. That money hasn't yet reached the state level, much less the local, but county health departments have been instructed to be prepared with proposed budgets, Wood said. Missouri will receive about $9 million to split among its counties sometime in the next month, he added.

"(The Department of Health and Senior Services) are gonna want a quick turn around," Wood said. "We don't want it to seem like we're lagging."

He said the county can be reimbursed for any COVID-19 prevention measures it has taken, as far back as Jan. 20, including staff hours spent organizing and conducting informational meetings.

The DHSS has, so far, directed Missouri's COVID-19 response, and will be conducting any testing that takes place in Callaway County.

County commissioners promised to support the health department's response, including sharing maintenance staff and supplies so the building's lobby area can be sanitized more frequently.

"We've got someone out at the courthouse wiping our door handles (etc.) all day," Eastern District Commissioner Randy Kleindienst said. "Do you need something like that?"

Lynch said they do, though staff currently do as much sanitizing as possible.

"We've had kids throw up all over the lobby floor," Lynch said.

Western District Commissioner Roger Fischer raised the issue of screening for COVID-19 in incoming inmates at the county jail and Missouri Department of Corrections Fulton Reception and Diagnostic Center. Wood said that's a current concern - as is preventing outbreaks at the Fulton State Hospital and major employers such as Callaway Electric Cooperative.

COVID-19 is a disease caused by a new coronavirus first detected in China, though it's since sickened more than 115,000 and killed more than 4,260 worldwide. Missouri officials announced the state's first confirmed case Saturday evening. As of Tuesday afternoon, health officials the entire United States have reported more than 800 cases, resulting in 28 deaths.

Wood said though the health department is doing its best to prepare, this disease is still poorly understood and unpredictable.

"Do I believe it's going to get bigger? Absolutely," he said. "Do I know how much? No."

The CCHD will host another informational meeting at 11 a.m. Friday at the health department's meeting room to give the latest news on the situation.