DAYTON— County Commissioners approved a mandate that requires masks at the Columbia County Fair this weekend at a meeting on Tuesday, September 7. The mandate, signed by Dr. Lewis Neace, Columbia County Health Officer, will provide an added level of protection for exhibitors, guests, and facilitators.

“As our cases continue to go up, we are looking at the fair,” Lanman said. “We need to do something at the fair, to make it clear that we have additional cases in our communities.”

Lanman said that the mandate is out of awareness and caution. Three Columbia County residents are hospitalized, according to Lanman, and hospitalizations have been consistent.

“It’s contagious enough that we have whole families sick,” Lanman said about the COVID-19 virus and its variants. “We have some really, really sick people in our community.”

Commissioner Charles Amerein asked about reporting breakthrough cases in vaccinations, and Lanman said that there are some cases, but not many. She said the state has requested she not share breakthrough cases publicly for privacy reasons.

“If you are sick, stay home,” Lanman said. “If you have a fever, and the fever breaks, do not go to work the next day. If you need to test, do not test on day one- you might not have enough of the virus present to test accurately. By day three or five, if you are still sick, that’s when you need to test. If you have been exposed and start to get sick, assume you are positive and stay home.”

Lanman said that she does not want to discourage testing, however, a person may not have enough of viral load during the first couple of days to test accurately.

As of Tuesday morning, there were 33 active cases in Columbia County, but Lanman noted that the Public Health office’s phone had been ‘ringing off the hook’ since the start of the day with people requesting a COVID-19 test. The holiday will create a slight delay in testing.

Lanman described the overall atmosphere of Public Health as ‘hectic,” and told Commissioners that they have been inundated with calls regarding COVID-19 testing. Up to five contract tracers, as well as Public Health staff, have been busy scheduling tests, contacting potentially exposed individuals, and checking in on people who have tested positive for the virus and are symptomatic. Lanman explained that for every positive test, four or five exposures could be anticipated.

At this time, Public Health is not contacting non-symptomatic positive people daily because the workload is too great for the current staffing levels. People who have tested positive and are experiencing symptoms are contacted daily.

She explained that the initial call, which includes online paperwork required for positive tests, takes an average of 45 minutes to complete, granted that the online system does not glitch during the call. This reporting is necessary for each positive in order to move forward with contact tracing.

She shared that Columbia County Health System broke its daily testing average last week. Seven to eight tests per day was normal, Lanman said, before it jumped up to more than 25 tests. Last week, CCHS had a record-breaking 46 tests in a single day.

Lanman said that the dedicated COVID-19 tester at CCHS was no longer employed with the system, which placed an even greater strain as hospital officials and caregivers struggled to balance daily caregiving and testing needs.

“When you hear of the shortage that is going on, trust me, it is in our community and it is affecting all of us,” Lanman said.

She did report that classified ads placed in local newspapers have been successful, and presented the commissioners with hire contracts for an additional contact tracer. She said that the department is continuing to search for more tracers, and she was hopeful that she could find a medical professional, such as a retired registered nurse, that would be willing to help out at vaccination clinics.

Commissioners approved a lease agreement for the former Public Health building, 270 E Main Street, for a vaccination clinic location. Lanman said that the new office, 112 N 2nd Street, is too small to safely and efficiently hold clinics. The lease included a $50 half-day charge, a $100 full-day charge, and paying power and utilities. The lease included a 30-day termination.