in Schools
My notes from Park City School Board meeting on reopening schools
If you have kids in Park City schools, you’ve probably been following the school reopening plans. School will go on — on August 20th. It sounds like schools will continue throughout the year over hell and high water. You have two options, in-person and online.
In-person will be a corona-ized version of what we are used to. Online will be taught by PCSD teachers. Buses will run on their normal routes. Before I get into thoughts on reopening, here is my bullet-point list of items I sent to a friend as meetings were going on.
- They are going to wash their hands a lot. Studies show that is important.
- They will send home a magnet that tells people how they should check their kids for symptoms every day.
- Every kid gets two CC, double-layer, microbial gators. A double layer has shown more effective.
- Masks must be worn on buses
- Teachers will get masks and can also wear a face shield
- There will be a video with a calming voice, like when you get on a Delta Flight and they tell you what to do when the plane crashes, that will reassure children that everything is going to be OK.
- Kids should be practicing wearing masks from August 1.
- Hygiene posters will be in every class telling students (that are old enough to read) how to wash their hands.
- PCSD decided on in-person because of social equity. This way can help equity.
- In-person will be done by a PC school teacher
- Remote will be done by a PC School Teacher “down the hall.” If a child needs to stop in-person because they get suck or their parents get sick they can go remote. [Note: this was somewhat contradicted in the PC Ed Foundation meeting because they said students would need to stay in-person or remote for a quarter. So not sure about this.]
- Remote attendance will require remote students to be online at certain times.
- June survey said five elementary kids per school would be remote.
- Not doing a split schedule because we don’t have 38-40 kids per class like some places in Utah.
- Teacher subs will be assigned to one school. They will not float.
- Dual immersion students should attend in person (recommended).
- Increasing fresh air to 50% in all schools… so dress accordingly. It may be COLD in the morning in schools.
- Lunch will be grab-and-go. Assigned seats will happen at lunch. High school kids may get to pick the table they are assigned to.
- A parent developed a new computer program called Health Attend. PCSD paying $1 a year for it. Parents will be able to look at how many people are sick in classes and make decisions on whether they should send their kids to school.
- The school is responsible for contact tracing in the event of a coronavirus case.
- The district is planning for intermittent attendance.
- Encouraging kids not to use lockers.
- PCSD is not using a purchased curriculum.
- Teachers will come back two days early. Teachers can take a seminar on how to teach remotely. Teachers must rely on their Principals. Teachers are empowered to innovate.
- K-2 will use See-Saw. 3rd grade through 12th will be Canvas. Teachers in 3rd to 5th grade need to learn Canvas.
- DLI 1st-5th should be done in-person but can be done remotely but not as well.
- Every school has an ionizer for air. They purchased those in March. Installed Merv 15 filters. Anything larger than 3 microns is filtered. Should help with mold, pollen, etc. as well as Corona.
- There will be mask breaks for elementary. Playgrounds won’t require masks.
- Schools will remain in-person full-time unless Summit County moves back to Orange and then schools will be a hybrid in-person/remote model. Red would mean fully remote.
- You have until Agust 7th to register your child for remote learning. Otherwise, they will be in-person by default.
So, those were my notes from the school board meeting and parts of the PC ED Foundation meeting. I don’t guarantee that the district said everything correctly or I captured it correctly but it should be generally correct.
Opening Park City schools full-time is a polarizing issue
I’ve said before that I commend the Park City School District on giving people the heads up that schools will be open for business this fall. However, I am hearing from teachers with major concerns about safety. I also get that.
We won’t really know the details about how schools will operate until the Park City School District formalizes plans. Those will take time.
I don’t have answers, but the way I am starting to look at it is in the form of a question. Is in-person teaching an essential “business”?
I know the people working at most medical facilities are considered essential. I know that police and firefighters are essential personnel. I know that the people checking me out at the supermarket are considered essential.
Are teachers?
The argument could be made that at-home learning, with teacher assistance, fills the need. I think many of those who experienced it in the spring would say the quality was as good as could be expected given the circumstances, but it wasn’t up to normal standards. Yes, some teachers did a bang-up job. However, from many conversations I have had, at-home learning would have to be generally more effective this fall and MUCH more than a stop-gap measure to make it a viable alternative.
Frankly, from what I have heard around our community, the district was given a pass on education this spring from parents. It doesn’t sound like they will be as forgiving this fall if education is at-home. That could lead to a number of issues. I think the Administrators at the Park City School District know that.
All of that said, it doesn’t alleviate the fear of teachers. Above, I’ve written about parents’ expectations and learning. Teachers have to deal with that, but they also have to consider the their health and that of their families.
It’s not easy.
I’d bet we are about to hear from the Park City Education Association on the matter. Get ready to read a number of editorials in the Park Record. Of course, if you want to write something here on the Park Rag, please email us. I want to represent as many viewpoints as possible. We’ve had over 1500 views on our story about PC schools opening. So, you will have an audience.
My guess is that things are about to get more polarized across the community. It will be interesting to see how this all works out.
Park City Schools will be full-time and in-person as of August 20
I have been writing about what other school districts in Utah have been doing regarding their back-to-school measures. Today, I read what the Park City School District plans to do:
“As a result of our collaboration with health agencies and the hard work of our educational Return to School Task Force Teams, we are plan to open for full, in-person instruction for all Park City School District students. Our first day of the 2020/21 school year will be August 20, 2020 for K-12th grade students.”
So, Park City schools should be operating Monday-Friday in the normal manner from somewhere around 7 AM until 4 PM (or mid-day on Fridays). Likewise, there appears to be an online option, if families would prefer to go that route.
I had previously heard that Park City School District committees were to make recommendations on reopening by July 20th, and we would have to wait until after that to hear about plans for the fall.
I was concerned with that timeline, because the closer it gets to opening, the harder it is to make work-decisions based on childrens’ schedules. Kudos to the Park City Schools District, and all those involved, to provide parents with sufficient lead-time to make decisions.
So, it looks like the schedule will be business as usual. The district said that more details will be provided within the next few weeks. I assume that will include how buses will work, what the school-day will look like, what social distancing measures will entail, etc. I understand that details take time.
I don’t think any of us are prepared for the reality of business-as-somewhat-usual for our schools. Hopefully, we can work together as a community to keep teachers, students, and everyone else in our schools as safe as possible. However, I do think that providing a semi-normal school day has numerous benefits ranging from mental health, to easier access to school lunches, to fundamental learning, to allowing parents to earn a living. There are downsides, of course, but hopefully, we can mitigate those as much as possible.
I appreciate that the school district has given us a broad outline, so at least we can make plans. This school year isn’t going to be easy. However, having a plan makes it far better for working parents. Good job Park City School District.
Update on school reopenings: Wasatch County School District provides options
Well, our friends in Heber have made a decision on schools for next year. Their decision could be described as “whatever you want, you got it.”
According to a Facebook post from the School District, “Wasatch County School District plans to bring students back for a traditional school schedule as our primary model. This model will be available to all families who desire it. In addition, we are planning to offer a half-day model with increased social distancing, as well as a District-sponsored fully online option. Regardless of what model you choose to be best for your student(s), Wasatch County School District is prepared to provide engaging learning opportunities for all students.”
So, from Jordan school district we have four days, with Friday being at-home schooling. From SLC School District we have a two-day a week, in-person schedule. From Wasatch School District (Heber and if you live between PC and Kamas) it is a “whatever you want” model.
We still haven’t heard from Park City and won’t probably for a couple of weeks. Not today, but at some point, our district will seem dawdling and out of touch on this decision. The clock is ticking. Sometimes when you speak last you have a moment of brilliance. If you don’t, you may look like you don’t know what you are doing.
I personally think Wasatch will be in trouble. My day job is designing software and it provides a view into the real world. Everyone wants options, but delivering those options in a way that actually works effectively is really hard. How will teachers practically provide an at-home model, a hybrid model, and an all in-person model? To me, if they do it, it sounds like the worst of all worlds.
Wasatch says it will provide a completely online model. Will they subscribe to online learning services on behalf of the students? Will they be creating every hour of learning themselves? Will they be accounting for DLI? Will teachers record themselves giving a lecture to kids from some telephoto camera and then that goes out the next day to students?
Wasatch also says it will provide a half-day in-person model. How does that mesh with the online version of teaching? How does a teacher ensure that both whatever is happening online and in-person coalesces? How does a teacher have time to prep for both in-person and remote learning?
With the 100% in-person model, that would likely be easiest (except for the masks) because it’s what teachers are used to doing. However, they also have to account for the other two models, at the same time.
Perhaps I’m not giving the Wasatch School District enough credit. Maybe they will be the model district for handling fall 2020. Likewise, since some kids will decide to stay home in every district, a complete online learning model will need to be developed anyhow. It’s complicated.
That said, I wouldn’t look forward to being a teacher or a student in the Wasatch County School District this fall. It’s going to be tough. It’s probably going to be tough everywhere.
An update on schools: SLC School District fires a shot across the bow
Thursday, the Salt Lake City School District announced their plans for reopening In a Covid-19 world. If Salt Lake City is at the Orange level (or above) of Governor Herbert’s reopening plans, schools will be completely remote. Better said, parents will be trying to teach kids with some help from teachers. This flies in the face of the the Governor saying that all schools will be in-person [in some form] next year.
However, if they achieve the low risk phase of Yellow, students will attend in-person school two days a week. It appears to be a Monday/Wednesday versus a Tuesday/Thursday in person schedule. High school students would have a similar but slightly different schedule.
It’s important to note, that they don’t provide any option better than that. They don’t talk about a green level where kids go to school five days a week for the normal amount of hours.
I don’t know where Park City schools stand. I have heard that there are groups looking at various options and they have to report by July 20. Then, we have to submit our reopening plans by August 1 to the state.
I had hoped things would be relatively normal. I had resigned myself to a four-day, in-person, school week, like Jordan School District says they are doing. That would be workable at least for our working family. However, if Park City adopts three days of at-home learning like SLC, that is going to be a real problem. How far behind are the kids going to fall?
God help us all.
Here is the letter from the Interim-Superintendent of SLC schools describing what they are planning.
in Schools
School districts start laying out plans for the fall
We’re about a month out from Park City schools starting the fall semester. This year will obviously function differently, given Covid-19. We’d expect the school district to come out with plans soon, so we parents know what to expect. However, we know the school district likes to wait and be told what to do from the Governor and Utah State Board of Education.
So, we thought we would present you with what other school districts have decided so far.
So, in NYC, ABC is reporting , “New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a hybrid back-to-school plan Wednesday with most students inside their physical schools just two or three days a week, but Gov. Andrew Cuomo said it’s up to him to decide whether schools can open at all.”
Here in Utah, Governor Herbert has announced school will be in person this fall. However, that could be a half day a week or some portion of six days a week. We know how politicians like to parse words.
It’s instructive to look at what the Jordan School District down in SLC announced this week. They are one of the first districts to announce their plans and are about ten times larger than Park City with about 55,000 students. They are going with four days of in-person school and one in-home school. According to KSL, “The Jordan School Board unanimously approved a motion Monday that would bring students back to school for in-person classes Monday through Thursday, with each Friday being used for online classwork, small-group learning, and additional teacher consultation.”
What strikes me as interesting with Jordan is that they surveyed teachers and parents on how they wanted the schools to work. The school board went with the option that was chosen the most by teachers and second-most by parents. They deciced on four days of in-person school per week.
It should be interesting to see what the Park City School District does with regard to in-person school. It’s closing in on the time that they should let us know. Are kids going to attend four days a week? Will it be normal with a full four and a half days a week? Will they go half days, with specialists online? Can families opt out of in-person school?
Odds are, they know what they are going to do. Now we are just waiting.
in Schools
The financial costs of reopening schools
Over the weekend a friend sent me an infographic describing the financial costs of re-opening schools. It shows the estimated additional costs that a school district with 8 schools and 3,700 students will need to account for this year. The additional cost is about $1.8 million. The Park City School District has a similar number of schools but about 900 more kids. So, we’re likely looking at over $2 million in additional costs. It’s mind-blowing.
Perhaps my favorite piece of this infographic is in the fine print. “Model assumes 25% transportation capacity to adhere to social distancing guidelines (Bus fleets would need to quadruple in size to safely transport 100% of students… which is financially unfeasible for districts).” That should make traffic interesting this Fall.
I’m assuming schools will open this Fall. I think it would take a real act of god to get our legislators from Southern Utah Governor to close schools again. That said, I don’t know how a district absorbs these costs. Rainy day funds only go so far.
I’ve assumed school may look different. Perhaps there will be odd-even days. Perhaps days will be split in two (an 8 AM -11 AM group of kids and 1 PM to 4 PM group) with specialists handled remotely. Lunch may be in the classroom. For younger kids, recess may be limited. Yet I’m not sure how much any of that impacts cost.
This is the time that makes you glad you didn’t run for the school board. For the current board members, I say THANKS. This isn’t going to be easy.
Click here to download a larger PDF version of this document.
Note: Thanks to Shannon who asked me to check on activities funds and whether they were typically paid by the district. It appears they are a pass through item and I have updated the story accordingly.
in Virus
Businesses are supposed to enforce Summit County’s mask requirement?
Summit County enacted its Covid-19 mask requirement Saturday morning at midnight. On Friday afternoon, The Summit County Council met in an emergency session to discuss the measure and vote it into place. During the public comment, I asked how local businesses should handle those people not wearing masks. The answer wasn’t what I expected.
I expected the County Council to say that ultimately people are responsible for their own actions, that they hoped all people would comply, and they are trying to communicate a “message” to the public to reduce the spiking Coronavirus numbers. That’s not the message I received.
Instead, Summit County Council Chair Doug Clyde said, “You [the business] are obviously going to be required to inform that person that their entrance to your business without a mask is not possible. That will be a requirement. You can’t be a business owner and decide that you are going to ignore this rule. This rule is real.”
What? So Fresh Market should have someone stationed at the door blocking people from entry if they aren’t wearing a mask? Same with Walmart, Smiths, etc.? You want them to enforce your order? It sounds like the County Council does.
That’s an unreasonable suggestion and not what the order appears to say. It says people are liable for not wearing a mask. My personal opinion is that masks should be mandatory statewide. Since the Governor’s decisions control the Park City School District, and I need school to happen this fall, I will do anything to make sure in-person school goes on. Since I live in Park City, and many friends would be financially crushed by no winter, I will do anything to make sure winter isn’t canceled. Masks make sense to me.
And please don’t say masks tread on your freedom. I learned in Civics in 9th grade that “the right to swing your fist stops at the next man’s nose.” There are speed limits. There are DUI laws. You have to wear shoes in a restaurant. I get your personal freedom thoughts (because I am often in your camp), but save them for a better argument.
However, if the County Council says that they expect businesses to enforce their law when it doesn’t seem it’s not actually part of the law, that goes too far. It’s the ammunition that gives people who hate masks ammunition. They say, “The County Council doesn’t even know what it is suggesting.”
So, Summit County businesses, I guess you may be responsible for stopping people from entering without a mask according to our legislative branch — but maybe not the actual ordinance. Are you going to turn people away? What are you going to do?
I get that the Coronavirus response is fluid, but it needs to be better than this.
in Election
Why I voted for Canice Harte for Summit County Council
So, I voted for Canice Harte for Summit County Council. I’m happy with my choice and thankful that I have one. Yet, this isn’t the typical endorsement you’d find in the Park Record.
I don’t personally know Canice Harte. He didn’t coach my kid’s baseball team to some championship. I don’t know if he will somehow cure the corona-virus. I didn’t get a request from the Democratic Party to write a Letter to the Editor in support of Canice. I am pretty sure he won’t find a way to educate Parkites on the proper way to drive through the Jeremy Ranch roundabouts — although I wish he could.
Yet, I still voted for him.
There are two reasons.
The first is the most important. As long-time readers know, I attend many County Council meetings. One day, two Snyderville Basin Planning Commissioners showed up to the County County meeting. They were concerned about the County’s approach to affordable housing at Silver Creek Village — that’s the 1200 unit development being built by Home Depot.
About 300 units are designated as affordable units. The County Council wanted to accelerate the affordable housing efforts and build most of those units in one section of the development at the beginning of the project. They wanted to build them at the beginning of the development, so they could get them done fast, and not put them alongside the other condos and townhouses.
One of the Planning Commissioners in attendance told the council “NO. That’s not right.” He articulated that good affordable housing development mixes affordable housing with market-rate houses. He said that’s how you make sure the community can function well. That way you don’t have the affordable houses all in one section and the wealthy in another.
It frankly makes sense.
Who was that? Canice Harte. He stood up to the County Council. He answered their questions. He provided personal experience. He withstood their criticism… even though he was in an appointed position and could not be invited back.
His willingness to stand up to the County Council was impressive on an issue that matters.
The second reason I voted for Canice is his take on the Boyer Tech Park. As many of you know, a developer wants to build a hotel and apartments on the area located under the Utah Olympic Park. Currently, it is “zoned” for a Technology Park. The idea, forged a decade ago, was trying to get higher-paying jobs to Park City. We wanted to increase the number of STEM jobs around Park City. Therefore, we wouldn’t be as reliant on tourism.
Now, a developer called Dakota Pacific is asking to change the rules. They want to build a hotel, retail businesses, and apartments on the land. This is currently in front of the Planning Commission — which both Canice Harte and Malena Stevens (his competitor) are a member of. The Planning Commission gets to forward a recommendation to the County Council on whether the hotel, retail, and apartments make sense.
My personal opinion is that we need to give the Tech Park a chance, and I don’t believe Boyer did a good job of marketing it. Things have changed because of the corona-virus. Companies want to move out of San Francisco and LA because they are too dense. Why not here? And while we wait, we have defacto open space. Waiting for high paying jobs gives us both open space in the short term and higher-paying jobs in the long-term.
So, in the Park Record’s article on the candidates’ debate they say, “Harte, though, implied that the project didn’t do enough to warrant its approval, saying that his opponent might think otherwise.”
Harte says, “For me, this is simply, we don’t have to do this. Someone’s going to have to show us a really good reason why we want to have a project if we were inclined to do so. They’re proposing 308 affordable housing units — 100 of those are between 40% and 60% of the (area median income) and that will … generate that much need just in the hotel project alone. So it’s not a net gain for the community. If anything it’s just going to break even.”
It sounds to me like he has a high bar for these changes. If we are going to give up the dream of higher-paying jobs here, we better not just give it away. To me, his position is good.
My view is that Canice Harte would provide a critical thinker who isn’t afraid to stand up for what he thinks. I’m sure we are not 100% aligned on every issue; however, I buy his character.
I don’t encourage you to vote for Canice Harte. You have to make up your own mind on the issues. However, I am voting for Canice and would ask you to critically think about this decision. It’s an important one. This decision will impact what you see around the County for the next decade.
I believe Canice will make incremental decisions that make our little corner of the world better. That’s why I voted for him.
in Virus
We’re throwing it all away
Please wear a mask. Please social distance. Please find a way to not spread the virus. All that really matters for Park City, on a number of levels, is Fall and Winter.
We spent the months of March, April, and May in lock-down to keep enough hospital beds available for the sick. Then we come out of hibernation in June and the numbers infected with Covid-19 are skyrocketing. Over the past three days, we’ve had the highest number of new cases since the pandemic began.
Why? Because many people don’t give a shit.
To those people who don’t give a shit, yes, the CDC and Fauci lied to you. Early on they said masks don’t help because they wanted to preserve the masks (that actually do help) for health care professionals. Then the Utah government chose the economy over health and pushed for reopening even though it could lead to a resurgence later (which appears is happening). And yes, the percentage of people dying from Covid-19 is less than 1% in Utah — which is lower than expected (but still sucks if it is someone you know.)
I grant you all that. However, the virus doesn’t care, and if infections continue to rise the State of Utah will have to make a policy response.
An internal memo, circulated Friday by The State of Utah Health Department, recommends going back to an orange level, if the average number of cases doesn’t lower to 200 per day by July 1. Right now, the average is over 400. I’ll include the memo below, but the highlights from the memo include:
- We are in the acceleration phase of the COVID-19 outbreak in Utah
- Since going to yellow, we have increased our number of contacts/case from approximately 5 to over 20. For contact tracing to be effective as a tool to stopping the spread of COVID-19, it needs to be paired with policies that limit the number of close contacts per person.
- IHC is reporting they will run out of conventional ICU capacity in some hospitals in July
- We have heard from the UHA, UofU, and IHC that hospitals are going to exceed their capacity to care for individuals within the next 4-8 weeks.
- [Utah needs to] mandate face coverings, either by government or business enforcement.
- If above isn’t reasonable, we need to be clear with public about why decisions are being made lessening restrictions – economic, not health.
I love that last one. I’d love to hear any politician actually say that, but it’s true. You can tell the Health Department is getting frustrated.
I know there are various opinions on this issue. Some think we should have never shut down the economy. Some people think the virus is all over-blown. Some people think we should have never opened back up. Some people are somewhere in the middle. I can see all sides on that.
Regardless, there are two factors at play here. One is policy response. The other is people response. What’s at stake is the school year and then the Winter Tourism season.
If we don’t get the numbers under control by late July, the Utah State Health Department is going to have to make rulings that impact our schools and thus us working parents. Policy is in play. It could be that some kids go to school Tue/Thur and other Monday/Wed. It could be half days where some kids go from 8 to Noon. Others go from 1 PM to 5 PM. It will be a mess for parents and it will seriously tax teachers. Most importantly, it will be detrimental to our kids.
Then as we approach the Winter, both policy and people are at play. Given how economically driven Utah is, it is unlikely they will shut down resorts. However, if corona-virus numbers are surging, they will likely put additional requirements on resorts. This could derail some plans resorts are currently making to maximize lodging, food-and-beverage revenue, and instruction.
Perhaps, more concerning is what is out of Salt Lake politician’s control… the people. If Utah numbers of infections surge into the Winter, the normal number of visitors are not going to come here, whether we are open or not. No amount of spin about Park City being an outdoor adventure-destination will be enough. People realize that they may spend 9 AM until 3 PM on the slopes but it’s probably not worth it unless you are willing to have lunch on the Mountain and then go out to dinner.
Yes, I know Deer Valley is thinking people are going to drive into Park City for the Deer Valley Experience. Deer Valley’s GM, Todd Shallan, recently said in the Park Record, “I’ve had conversations with people who have said ‘Well, if I can’t fly there from California, I’ll drive. It’s only 10 hours. And I’m going to be there for a week or two weeks, so it doesn’t really matter, I can drive,’” I’m not so sure.
Yes, people will drive from Draper, ski some, and then leave. However, that’s not the thing that supports Park City. If enough people aren’t willing to fly here because either they fear the virus on planes or fear the virus in Utah, then it will be a disaster for many businesses and residents.
Getting our numbers down is the best thing we can do, but we are headed in the wrong direction. About all we can do is wear a mask because the rest is out of our control.
So, please wear a mask. Even if you don’t personally think it helps you, it will help others. You may make it possible for school to be more normal next year. You may personally responsible for saving a local business.
If you do, you are paying it forward.
Please wear a mask!
Here is the memo from the State of Utah Department of Health:
19 June 2020
UDOH Epi COVID Brief
Overview:
We are in the acceleration phase of the COVID-19 outbreak in Utah. We went yellow on May 15. Our surge in cases started on May 27, 12 days after going yellow. Utahns care about these colors. They change their actions based on them. They are the key messaging tool to the public.
All of our goals are aligned – keep the economy open and prevent deaths/ illnesses. We are quickly getting to a point where the only viable option to manage spread and deaths will be a complete shutdown. This might be our last chance for course correction. Contact tracing and testing alone will not control this outbreak.
Today, we reported nearly 600 cases and that’s without a known outbreak of driving transmission.
It’s over 3.5 times the current rate in Colorado.
COVID-19 patients in the Utah hospitals have increased from a steady 90 to 150 this month, and this increase is from the cases that were identified over a week ago.
IHC is reporting they will run out of conventional ICU capacity in some hospitals in July.
Of the cases, about 8 percent will be hospitalized one to two weeks later and about 1% will die after about three weeks. If trends hold, at the current weekly average of 405 cases/day:
This means around 213 people will be hospitalized per week.
Of those 213, about 85 will be previously healthy working age people. “Low risk” – taken from their family and work to fight for their lives in an isolated hospital room.
About 17 of the 213 will die – another 11 will die at home or in nursing homes. On average, per week, and it’s growing at a rate of 25% a week.
Things we can do now to start to decrease cases and keep the economy open:
If we do not reach a rolling 7-day average of 200/cases per day by July 1, we need to move the entire state to orange. This will send the message to Utahns that this outbreak continues to be a serious problem, and state leadership is committed to saving lives and preventing a complete economic shutdown.
200 new cases / day can likely be managed by aggressive contact tracing, focused outbreak investigations and testing, and pointed public messaging.
We should start messaging this to the public and businesses now.
Put a pause on any jurisdiction lessening restrictions until July 1.
Mandate face coverings, either by government or business enforcement.
If above isn’t reasonable, we need to be clear with public about why decisions are being made lessening restrictions – economic, not health. Be clear about health risk. Be clear about how these decisions are made and who makes them. This will better equip the public to make informed decisions about how to protect themselves and their health.
Below are the key aspects of our response, followed by a data summary:
Contact Tracing
Contact tracing is a key element to controlling an infectious disease outbreak. However, it becomes less effective as the number of contacts per case increases, and as the public perceives lower risk and does not adhere to quarantine recommendations. Since going to yellow, we have increased our number of contacts/case from approximately 5 to over 20. For contact tracing to be effective as a tool to stopping the spread of COVID-19, it needs to be paired with polices that limit the number of close contacts per person. We are exceeding our capacity to effectively and efficiently conduct contact tracing due to the surge in cases and number of contacts per case.
Testing
We need to continue our ability to test everyone who needs a COVID-19 test: close contacts, symptomatic, high risk settings. We must prioritize testing for people who are sick or are part of outbreaks. Speed is critical in identifying these people and baseline testing distracts public health and testing resources.
Hospital Utilization
We have heard from the UHA, UofU, and IHC that hospitals are going to exceed their capacity to care for individuals within the next 4-8 weeks. The metrics on DOMO are only part of the hospital capacity. We must consider staffing, ECMO, and beds for severe cases. Focusing on tertiary care hospitals is crucial. Once we run out of beds at tertiary care hospitals on the Wasatch Front, there is no state ability to care for the critically ill. Maintaining the ability to stand up the alternate care facility will be essential as cases continue to increase.
Protect those at high risk for severe disease
High risk individuals get COVID-19 from low risk individuals. The higher the number of cases in our state, the more likely high risk individuals will get exposed to COVID-19. We must continue our efforts to specifically protect those at high risk for severe disease, while prioritizing policies and interventions that drive down overall transmission.
Protect those at high risk for transmission
We know certain environments are more conducive to COVID-19 spread: crowded, indoors, for a prolonged period of time. We must continue to work with employers in these environments to put procedures in place and engineer the workspace to limit spread. We also need to work with employers to ensure their employees have the ability to quarantine and isolate when needed through paid sick leave and worker protections.
Messaging/Communications
The public equates the color-coded phased guidelines with risk of COVID-19 spread. We must be clear that the color equates with the economic restrictions in place. And that the risk of COVID-19 spread is higher as the restrictions are lower.
Parkrag
We believe in citizen journalism. We believe there are stories to tell that can help to shape our community for the better. We believe tomorrow's Park City can be better than today's.