Inter-agency COVID- 19 Local Boards of Health Webinar Please be - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Welcome to the Inter-agency COVID- 19 Local Boards of Health Webinar

Please be patient, we will be starting shortly!

Inter-agency COVID-19 Local Boards of Health Webinar

November 20, 2020

Webinar Agenda

• Welcome and Introductions
• Reminders
• Agency Announcements and Updates
• Questions and Answers

Inter-agency Staff on the Webinar

• Jana Ferguson, Assistant Commissioner, DPH
• Ron O’Connor, Office of Local and Regional Health, DPH
• Dr. Catherine Brown, Bureau of Infectious Disease and Laboratory Sciences, DPH
• Helene Bettencourt and Anne Gilligan, Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
• Michael Flanagan, Mary Dozois, and Adam Kinney, Department of Labor Standards
• Cheryl Sbarra, Massachusetts Association of Health Boards
• Chief Jeff Farnsworth, Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association

MEDIA AND RECORDING ADVISORY

• This webinar is intended for local boards of
• health. Any media who may have joined

should disconnect.

• Recording is not consented to and not

permitted.

LEGAL ISSUES ON WEBINARS

• DPH contracts with the Massachusetts Association of

Health Boards (MAHB) to provide answers and guidance to health departments and boards of health on a wide range of public health issues including COVID-19.

• MAHB produces documents and provides information on

these webinars for educational purposes only and are not to be construed as legal advice.

• For legal advice, please contact your city or town attorney.

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS PROCESS

Please note that we will be unable to take questions by phone. Please use the webinar Q&A function for questions or comments. If you are having technical issues, email Jessica Ferland, jessica.ferland@mass.gov

Inter-Agency Updates

Department

• f Public

Health (DPH)

UPDATE

• Holiday Gatherings
• Background on Updated

Quarantine Guidance

• Jana Ferguson
• Dr. Catherine Brown

Holiday Gatherings

Mass.gov/holidays

Updates to Lower-Risk States

New Hampshire and Maine will be removed from lower-risk states at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, November 21st

Updated Quarantine Guidance

• What changed?
• Why was it changed?

Department

• f Labor

Standards (DLS)

UPDATE

• Clarification: Tents at Restaurants
• Holiday Events Questions

www.mass.gov/forms/proposals-to-plan-for-an-outdoor- activity-not-provided-for-in-sector-specific-guidance Will send link after webinar

• Michael Flanagan

Other Updates

Questions submitted by e-mail before the webinar

Please note that we select questions that are of general interest and for which we have a response today. Please send questions in advance of the webinar to : Mike Coughlin at

michael.j.coughlin@mass.gov

Q&A.1

Questions Submitted Before the Webinar

“Can DPH comment on the availability of wastewater testing at the local level?”

Questions Submitted Before the Webinar

“How accurate are at-home COVID-19 tests? How are boards of health supposed to do contact tracing? We will not have any idea if someone tests positive. People will not be getting isolation or quarantine instructions. How is this a good thing?”

Questions Submitted Before the Webinar

“What is the current status of the CTC? Are they accepting new cases at this time?”

Questions Submitted Before the Webinar

“We are continuing to see a significant time lag in cases appearing in MAVEN. Will this improve going forward?”

Questions Submitted Before the Webinar

“We have received questions from the public about how the state calculates the percent positivity rate for the state and locally. The concern some individuals have is that they believe repeat tests from higher education are artificially depressing the positive test rate for the general public. Is there a way to tease out how many tests are associated with colleges/universities to see how that impacts

• verall test positivity?”

Questions Submitted Before the Webinar

“Will the DESE testing timing guidance for contacts (4-5 days) be switched to match the new state quarantine timing (8 days)?”

Questions Submitted Before the Webinar

“Can you confirm that Black Friday midnight openings will be allowed this year?”

Questions Submitted Before the Webinar

“We are now in a debate about cleaning a big box store after a positive case. The guidelines say “site” and not department. The person worked in the bakery. We are saying they should be cleaning the entire store since we have no idea if the infected person traveled throughout the store. Can you give me a better clarification to this?”

Questions submitted during the webinar

Please note that we select questions that are of general interest and for which we have a response today. Some questions may be answered by e-mail to the person who posed the question; other questions will be reviewed/researched and possibly addressed on the next webinar.

Q&A.2

Next Webinar Tuesday, November 24th at 3:00 p.m.

Please send questions in advance to Mike Coughlin at michael.j.coughlin@mass.gov No Webinar on Friday, November 27th

Thank You!

We welcome your feedback on the webinar format and suggestions for future topics.