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COUNCIL MEMBER ANDREW SULLIVAN.
COLLEEN BOCO COUNTY JUDGE NELSON W WOLF.
COUNTY COMMISSIONER SERGIO CHICO RODRIGUEZ.
COUNTY COMMISSIONER JUSTIN RODRIGUEZ.
PRESENT COUNTY COMMISSIONER KEVIN, A WOLF COUNTY COMMISSIONER.
DAVID SMITH HERE AND DISTRICT ATTORNEY JOE GONZALEZ.
LARRY ROBERTSON ON BEHALF OF JOE GONZALEZ.
ALRIGHT, WELL GOOD AFTERNOON EVERYONE.
UM, LET ME JUST GO OVER REALLY QUICKLY, UH, SOME OF THE PROCEDURAL STUFF.
UH, THIS IS A, A SPECIAL COUNSEL AND COURT MEETING, UH, ON THIS TUESDAY, UH, APRIL 28TH.
UM, WE ARE GONNA GO THROUGH SEVERAL PRESENTATIONS, THE FIRST OF WHICH WILL BE FROM OUR UNIFIED COMMAND, OUR HEALTH UPDATE.
WE'LL THEN MOVE TO AN UPDATE ON THE GOVERNOR'S EMERGENCY DECLARATIONS, UH, RELEASED YESTERDAY.
THAT'LL BE CITY ATTORNEY ANDY SEGOVIA.
AND I THINK, UM, UH, MR. PETERSON WILL ALSO BE, UH, DOING SOME UPDATES THERE.
AND THEN WE'LL GO INTO THE MEET OF THE ORDER TODAY, WHICH IS THE HEALTH TRANSITION TEAM REPORT, UH, CHAIRED BY DR.
BARBARA TAYLOR, WHO HAS JOINED US.
UM, I'LL START AND THEN I'M GONNA HAND IT OFF TO THE JUDGE.
AFTER WE GO THROUGH THOSE PRESENTATIONS, WE'RE GOING TO GET INTO THE COMMISSIONERS AND THE COUNCIL, UH, DISCUSSION.
EACH COUNCIL MEMBER AND COMMISSIONER'S COURT MEMBER WILL HAVE SEVEN MINUTES TO, UM, DISCUSS, ASK QUESTIONS FROM ANYONE WHO'S PRESENT ON ANY OF THE ITEMS THAT ARE POSTED TODAY.
UM, AND THEN WE WILL, UH, MOVE ON.
UH, I DID RECEIVE WORD THAT COUNCIL MEMBER GONZALES HAS TO DEPART EARLY, SO WE'LL TAKE HER FIRST.
UH, BUT THEN WE'LL START WITH COUNCIL DISTRICT ONE, FOLLOWED BY PRECINCT, UH, COMMISSIONER PRECINCT ONE, AND WE'LL MOVE DOWN THE LINE IN THAT FASHION.
UH, THANK YOU ALL FOR BEING HERE TODAY.
UH, NEEDLESS TO SAY, THIS IS A VERY HISTORIC OCCASION FOR A NUMBER OF REASONS.
UH, ONE IS THAT, UH, IN DEMONSTRATION OF THE GREAT SOLIDARITY AND TEAMWORK, UH, THAT OUR ENTIRE COMMUNITY HAS SHOWN THROUGHOUT THIS PANDEMIC RESPONSE, THE BEXAR COUNTY COMMISSIONER'S COURT AND THE SAN ANTONIO CITY COUNCIL ARE COMING TOGETHER FOR AN UPDATE ON SOME VERY CRITICAL ITEMS FACING OUR COMMUNITY.
UM, I WANT TO THANK, UH, MY COUNTERPART AND TEAMMATE, UH, JUDGE NELSON WOLFE FOR HIS GREAT PARTNERSHIP OVER THE LAST SEVERAL MONTHS AS WE'VE BEEN WORKING THROUGH THIS CRISIS, ALONG WITH MY COLLEAGUES ON THE, ON THE CITY COUNCIL AND THE COMMISSIONER'S COURT FOR ALL THE GREAT WORK YOU'VE DONE TO, UH, PUT OUR CITY IN A POSITION OF SUCCESS.
UH, I DON'T THINK IT'S EVER BEEN DONE BEFORE.
THE WORKING GROUPS THAT HAVE ESTABLISHED TO ADDRESS SOME OF THESE URGENT NEEDS OF OUR COMMUNITY OR RECOGNIZE ALL THE WORK, UH, FROM OUR COMMUNITY MEMBERS AND OUR COORDINATOR, GORDON HARTMAN, WHO'S ALSO BEEN GIVING COUNTLESS HOURS TO THIS EFFORT.
UM, THE WORLD DIDN'T CHANGE YESTERDAY AS A RESULT OF GOVERNOR'S, UH, THE GOVERNOR'S, UH, NEW ORDERS.
UH, BUT WE DO KNOW FOR, UH, A FACT THAT ALL THE WORK THAT OUR COMMUNITY HAS BEEN DOING WITH REGARD TO SOCIAL DISTANCING, LIMITING PUBLIC GATHERINGS, THE WORK THAT EVERY FAMILY HAS BEEN DOING TO LIMIT SOME OF THE ACTIVITIES THAT WE ALL KNOW AND ENJOY HAS SAVED LIVES.
UH, IT HAS KEPT OUR COMMUNITY HEALTHY.
UH, IT HAS BEEN, UH, THE CRITICAL REASON WHY WE ARE IN A POSITION TO CONTAIN THIS VIRUS FOR THE LONG TERM.
WE KNOW THERE'S A LOT MORE WORK TO DO.
AND SO AS WE HEAR FROM THE HEALTH TEAM REPORT TODAY, AND WE CONSIDER THE ACTIONS THAT WE HAVE TO TAKE UNDER NEW EMERGENCY ORDERS, UH, LET US BE MINDFUL OF THE FACT THAT, UH, WE
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DON'T WANT ALL THAT WORK TO GO TO WASTE AS WE GO TO THE NEXT PHASE OF THIS.LET'S WATCH THE DATA SUPPORT THE PROFESSIONALS ON THE FRONT LINES.
LET'S MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE MINDFUL OF THE TRIGGERS THAT WE MIGHT PASS THROUGH THAT MIGHT INDICATE THAT WE'RE GOING IN THE WRONG DIRECTION.
AND LET'S CONTINUE TO BE COMMITTED TO ACTION, TO PROTECT OUR COMMUNITY, BUT ALSO TO ENSURE THE LONG-TERM VITALITY OF OUR, OF OUR CITY.
SO, UM, AGAIN, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR BEING HERE, FOR THE PUBLIC THAT'S WATCHING IT.
UH, AND, UH, I'LL NOW TURN IT OVER TO BEAR COUNTY JUDGE NELSON WOLF.
UH, FIRST OF ALL, LEMME THANK YOU FOR BEING A GREAT PARTNER.
I THINK WE'VE, UH, WORKED VERY WELL TOGETHER AND MAKE SURE THAT WE COORDINATE ALL OUR EFFORTS.
SO 2 MILLION PEOPLE THAT WE REPRESENT IN THIS AREA TODAY.
AND THEN LET ME THANK ALSO THE CITY COUNCIL AND THE COMMISSIONER'S COURT.
THE COUNCIL STEPPED UP WITH $25 MILLION TO HELP PEOPLE, RENTAL ASSISTANCE AND OTHER NEEDS THAT THEY MAY HAVE.
COMMISSIONER'S COURTS COME UP WITH ABOUT $10 MILLION, UH, TO HELP SMALL BUSINESSES AND TO HELP ON, ON RENTAL ASSISTANCE.
SO, UH, BOTH BODIES HAVE STEPPED FORWARD TO, UH, DO EVERYTHING WE CAN ALLEVIATE THE, UH, TREMENDOUS, UH, CHALLENGE THAT WE HAVE BEFORE US.
NOW, THE GOVERNOR IS THE TOP OFFICIAL IN THE STATE OF TEXAS.
AND, UM, WHEN HE SAYS, WE'RE GONNA OPEN SOMETHING, WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO OPEN IT.
HIS AUTHORITY OVERRIDES OUR AUTHORITY.
BUT, UH, IN READING THE, UH, REPORT THAT HE CAME OUT WITH, I THINK WE HAVE SOME FLEXIBILITY AND WE'LL KNOW MORE ABOUT THAT AS OUR, OUR ATTORNEYS TELL US THAT TO IMPLEMENT A NUMBER OF SAFEGUARDS THAT HE DID NOT DO, UH, ONE OF 'EM IS CERTAINLY A MANDATORY, UH, REQUIREMENT TO WEAR A FACE COVERING, UH, WHICH HE DID NOT DO, WHICH HE SAYS WE SHOULD DO.
UH, AND, AND, AND RESPONSIBLE BUSINESSES LIKE H E B REQUIRE THAT AND SET THE GOLD STANDARD IN DOING THAT.
SO THERE'D BE OTHER HEALTH ISSUES THAT WE COULD PROBABLY IMPLEMENT AS WE GO ALONG.
I KNOW WE WANT TO KEEP IN PLACE.
WE ISSUED AN ORDER, UH, I GUESS RIGHT AT THE VERY START TO STOP, UH, UH, EVICTIONS AND, AND I WANT TO KEEP THAT GOING.
SO THERE'S A NUMBER OF THINGS WE CAN DO WITHIN THE PURVIEW OF NOT VIOLATING HIS, UH, EMERGENCY ORDER.
SO I LOOK FORWARD TO TODAY AS WE GET THE DISCUSSION OF, UH, WHERE WE ARE AND WHAT THE RECOMMENDATIONS ARE, HEALTH COMMITTEE.
UM, I'M GONNA NOW TURN IT OVER TO OUR CITY, CITY MANAGER, UH, ERIC WAL TO GO AHEAD AND START CALLING UP OUR PRESENTATIONS.
ERIC AFTERNOON, MAYOR AND COUNCIL AND, UH, JUDGE AND COMMISSIONER'S COURT.
SO I'LL JUST, THE MAYOR ALREADY KIND OF WENT THROUGH THE AGENDA.
WE'RE GONNA START OFF WITH, UH, AN UPDATE FROM, UH, DR.
DAWN EMRICH, UH, THAT WE'LL MOVE INTO AN UPDATE ON THE GOVERNOR'S ACTIONS, UH, BY ANNIE SEGOVIA AND THEN BACK TO THE MAYOR.
TAYLOR AND THE HEALTH TRANSITION TEAM.
SO I'LL GO AHEAD AND GET STARTED WHILE JOHN IS PULLING UP MY PRESENTATION.
CAN EVERYBODY HEAR ME OKAY? EXCELLENT.
SO, I WANNA THANK AND RECOGNIZE THE MEMBERS OF THE UNIFIED COMMAND FOR ALL OF THEIR HARD WORK OVER THE LAST SEVERAL WEEKS, SEVERAL MONTHS, UH, CHIEF HOOD, UH, CHIEF ESTRADA, CHIEF ZEPEDA, AND ERIC LEY.
WITHOUT ANY OF THE, THOSE PARTNERSHIPS, NONE OF THIS WOULD'VE BEEN POSSIBLE.
UM, I ALSO WANNA JUST REITERATE ALL OF THE SUPPORT THAT WE'VE GOTTEN FROM EACH OF YOU.
UM, WE KNOW THAT THE WORK THAT WE'VE DONE HAS WORKED.
UM, WE HAD A GREAT PARTNER, OUR GREAT PARTNER OUT IN THE COMMUNITY, CI NOW, WHO IS, YOU KNOW, INFAMOUS FOR THEIR DATA ANALYTICS.
UH, THEY DID AN ESTIMATION THAT BETWEEN MARCH 25TH AND, UH, THAT'S WHEN THE STAY AT HOME ORDER CAME OUT, UM, THAT IT IS PREDICTED THAT WE SAVED SOMEWHERE BETWEEN 3000 TO 5,000 LIVES BECAUSE OF THIS WORK.
AND, UH, JUST WANNA THANK EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU.
UH, IT SEEMS LIKE IT WAS FIVE YEARS AGO, BUT ACTUALLY IT WAS JUST A LITTLE MORE THAN TWO AND A HALF MONTHS AGO.
UM, GO AHEAD AND, AND HIT THE SLIDE PLEASE.
PHASE THREE, I MEAN, SO THAT WAS PHASE ONE, PHASE TWO OF THIS WORK ACTIVATED THE E O C E.
IT ESTABLISHED A UNIFIED COMMAND WITH TWO GOALS, FLATTEN THE CURVE AND SLOW, SLOW THE STOP, SLOW OR STOP THE SPEED, UM, OR THE SPREAD OF C OVID 19.
WE TESTED, WE ISOLATED, WE FOUND CONTACTS AND WE QUARANTINED.
WE RESPONDED TO THE ISOLATED OUTBREAKS.
WE CONTAINED BY CANVASSING NEIGHBORHOODS, EDUCATING ABOUT SOCIAL DISTANCING AND THE IMPORTANCE OF WEARING MASKS.
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SO HOW DID WE DO? WE HAD 1,254 CASES, 43 DEATHS AND 531 RECOVERED.WE SAW A PEAK OF OUR ONSET OF ILLNESS IN, IN, IN MARCH.
SOME WOULD SAY THAT WE MIGHT BE OVER THE CURVE YET TO BE DETERMINED.
76% OF OUR TESTS ARE BEING CONDUCTED BY MEDICAL PROVIDERS.
76% OF OUR CASES ARE ATTRIBUTED TO CLOSE CONTACT AND COMMUNITY TRANSMISSION, AND 42% OF OUR CASES HAVE RECOVERED.
LET'S LOOK AT THE BOX DOWN IN THE LOWER LEFT.
LET'S LOOK AT THE NUMBER OF CASES DEATHS, PERCENT POSITIVE LABS BY WEEK.
LOOK AT THE CURVE, LOOK AT THE PEAK, AND LOOK AT THE DESCENT.
WE'RE SEEING SOME PATTERNS HERE.
UNIFIED COMMAND HAS BEEN MONITORING INDICATORS FOR THE LAST 15 WEEKS, SOME INTERNAL AND SOME EXTERNAL.
WE ARE READY TO TODAY TO MAKE THE INTERNAL INDICATORS THAT WE'VE BEEN MONITORING OVER THE LAST SEVERAL WEEKS.
WE'RE READY TO MAKE THESE PUBLIC AND WE'LL ADD AS MANY MORE RECOMMENDED, RECOMMENDED, RECOMMENDED INDICATORS BY THE HEALTH TRANSITION TEAM.
AS RECOMMENDED, WE CONT WE'LL CONTINUE TO WATCH THE EPI CURVE THAT YOU SEE IN THE UPPER LEFT CORNER.
WE'LL CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE DAILY TEST RATES AS WE LOOK FOR, AS WE LOOK TO SCALE UP OUR TESTING.
AS YOU CAN SEE IN THAT INDICATOR RIGHT THERE WITH THAT YELLOW CIRCLE 958 DAILY TESTS, OUR GOAL IS TO RAMP UP AND WE'LL BE ABLE TO SEE AND MONITOR HOW MANY TESTS WE DO A DAY.
WE'LL WATCH THE VENTILATOR CAPACITY AND USAGE AS WE, UM, OPEN UP THE CITY.
AS YOU CAN SEE RIGHT NOW, WE'RE AT 77 70 7% VENTILATOR USE.
THESE ARE KEY INDICATORS FOR US TO UNDERSTAND WHAT ARE SOME OF THE WARNINGS AND WHAT ARE SOME OF THE PROGRESSIVE SIGNS.
WE'LL CONTINUE TO WATCH THE E M S TRANSPORTS TO SEE WHO AND WHERE AND WHY OUR E M SS SYSTEM IS TRANSPORTING TO THE HOSPITAL.
LOOK AT THOSE CURVES IN THE MIDDLE.
LOOK AT OUR CURRENT I C U RATES.
LOOK AT OUR CURRENT VENTS, LOOK AT OUR E M S.
THOSE ARE ALL REALLY GREAT SIGNS AND WE LOVE TO SEE THOSE CURVES WORKING THAT WAY.
SLIDE, UM, CAN YOU STAY THERE? CAN YOU SEE THE DECREASES THAT WE SHOULD BE SEEING? WE ARE THRILLED TO BE AT PHASE THREE WHERE WE CAN HELP TO OPEN UP THE CITY.
IT'S JUST THE MIDDLE THAT CHANGED.
IT'S THE SAME INDICATORS, BUT THERE'S MORE TO THIS PUBLIC INDICATORS SITE THAT WE WILL BE WORKING WITH.
OUR HEALTH TRANSITION TEAM AND OUR UNIFIED COMMAND WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR THIS PARTICULAR INDICATOR.
IS OUR EVER QUARANTINED A MAJOR SIGNIFICANT PIECE OF THE BOX IT IN APPROACH? WE APPRECIATE IN OUR THRILLED IN PHASE THREE THAT THIS WHOLE ENTIRE PROCESS HAS BEEN DEPENDENT UPON SCIENCE, PUBLIC HEALTH PRINCIPLES, AND HEALTHCARE EXPERTISE THAT ARE SO CRITICAL IN THE DECISIONS TO OPENING UP OUR CITY AND OUR COUNTY.
AGAIN, AND I APPRECIATE ALL OF THIS.
I CAN'T BELIEVE I DID THAT IN FIVE MINUTES.
CAN YOU? I JUST, I THAT'S, I'M, I CAN'T BELIEVE I DID THAT.
BUT ANYWAY, I'M HAPPY TO, UH, WITH THAT PRESENTATION AND I CAN'T WAIT TO HEAR DR.
THANK YOU, MAYOR AND JUDGE, UH, COMMISSIONERS, COURT AND COUNSEL.
UH, I THINK I'M NEXT IN TERMS OF PROVIDING A QUICK OVERVIEW OF THE VARIOUS ORDERS THAT WERE ISSUED BY THE GOVERNOR YESTERDAY.
AND I'M GONNA HIT THE HIGHLIGHTS, UH, UH, AND I'M GONNA TRY TO GO AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE, AS I KNOW EVERYBODY WANTS TO HEAR FROM DR.
SO, UH, JOHN, IF YOU CAN PUT THE PRESENTATION UP.
UM, THE KEY THING TO REMEMBER FROM WHAT THE GOVERNOR, UH, ISSUED YESTERDAY IS THIS, IT'S THAT THE FRAMEWORK OF ESSENTIAL AND NON-ESSENTIAL BUSINESSES STAYED IN PLACE.
UM, SO THAT THE SYSTEM OF IDENTIFYING WHAT BUSINESSES ARE OPEN, WHEN, WHICH ARE NOT, UH, IN, IN, IN WHICH THE, OUR LOCAL ORDERS ARE ALSO BASED, UH, THAT STAYED IN PLACE.
AND, UH, AND BOTH, UH, IN FACT, ALL THREE, THE GOVERNOR'S ORDERS, UH, THE MAYORS AND THE JUDGES ARE ALL BASED ON THE CSSA GUIDANCE IN TERMS OF WHAT BUSINESSES AND ACTIVITIES ARE DEEMED ESSENTIAL AND WHICH ARE NOT.
WHAT THE GOVERNOR DID DO IS HE IDENTIFIED CERTAIN, UH, BUSINESSES THAT FIT INTO THE NON-ESSENTIAL CATEGORY AND ALLOW THEM TO REOPEN UNDER LIMITED CONDITIONS STARTING MAY 1ST, WHICH IS THIS FRIDAY.
UH, ANOTHER KEY THING TO REMEMBER FROM THE ORDER IS GATHERINGS ARE STILL PROHIBITED
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UNDER THE GOVERNOR'S ORDER.AND THOSE, UH, ESSENTIAL SERVICES THAT ARE IDENTIFIED AS ESSENTIAL SERVICES, THEY REMAIN IN PLACE, UH, SUCH AS THE GOVERNMENT ACTIVITIES, HEALTHCARE, UH, ET CETERA.
UH, AGAIN, WHAT HE DID WAS HE TOOK A GROUP OR A SELECT NUMBER OF SECTORS THAT WERE IN THE NON-ESSENTIAL CATEGORY AND NOW HAS IDENTIFIED THEM AS REOPENED BUSINESSES OR REOPENED SERVICES.
SO THESE REOPEN SERVICES, AGAIN, WILL OPEN ON A LIMITED CAPACITY MAY 1ST, AND THEY ARE, ARE ALLOWED TO REOPEN.
THEY MAY REOPEN, THEY'RE NOT REQUIRED TO, UH, WITH 25% OCCUPANCY RESTRICTION AT ANY ONE TIME IN THEIR STORE OR RESTAURANT.
AND SO THESE REOPEN, THE SERVICES ARE DINE-IN RESTAURANTS, RETAIL STORES, MOVIE THEATERS, UH, MALLS.
UM, ALTHOUGH THE FOOD COURTS AND PLAY AREAS IN THOSE MALLS WILL REMAIN CLOSED, MUSEUMS AND LIBRARIES, AND AGAIN, I EMPHASIZE IT'S NOT REQUIREMENT THAT THEY COME, THEY, THEY BE OPEN.
THEY'RE ONLY ALLOWED TO BE OPEN.
IN FACT, WE'VE ALREADY HEARD THAT SOME MAY ELECT TO STAY CLOSED, UH, GIVEN THEIR BUSINESS MODEL.
BUSINESS BUSINESSES MAY INDEPENDENTLY REQUIRE FACE COVERINGS.
UH, WE'LL COVER THAT A LITTLE BIT MORE, UH, ON THE NEXT SLIDE.
BUT, UH, THEY CAN DETERMINE WHETHER THE PEOPLE COMING INTO THEIR FACILITIES, UH, NEED TO HAVE A FACE COVERING OR NOT.
UH, PUBLIC FACILITIES ARE STILL WITHIN THE REALM OF THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT AS TO WHETHER THEY WANNA OPEN, UH, THEIR FACILITIES AND TO WHAT EXTENT DO THEY WANNA OPEN THEM.
UH, THE GOVERNOR DID SAY THAT SOLE PRACTITIONERS AND GOLF COURSES ARE ESSENTIALLY OPENING FOR BUSINESS, BUT AGAIN, FOR GOLF COURSES, THEIR, UH, RESTAURANT AND FOOD, UH, FALL UNDER THE CATEGORY OF THE, OF THE RESTAURANT LIMITED OPENINGS.
DID I IDENTIFY, BUT NOT COMPREHENSIVELY, THOSE BUSINESSES THAT REMAIN CLOSED.
UH, AGAIN, THESE ARE, UH, JUST A SECTOR OR GROUP OF, UH, THOSE BUSINESSES THAT ARE DEEMED NON-ESSENTIAL.
SO THOSE HAVE STILL REMAINED CLOSED UNDER ALL THE ORDERS.
OUR BARS, GYMS, PUBLIC SWIMMING POOLS, UH, AMUSEMENT VENUES LIKE BOWLING ALLEYS, VIDEO ARCADES, UH, TATTOO PARLORS, PIERCING STUDIOS, AND OF COURSE SALONS AND BARBERSHOPS.
UH, OBVIOUSLY THE, THE, THOSE ARE, ARE ONES THAT REMAIN CLOSED.
BUT IT, IT, IT SEEMS, BY IDENTIFYING THOSE, UH, AT LEAST THE INDICATION IS THAT MAYBE THEY WILL BE PART OF THE NEXT PHASE THAT THE GOVERNOR HAS IN MIND IN TERMS OF OPENING UP NON-ESSENTIAL BUSINESSES.
AGAIN, LOOKING AT WHAT THE GOVERNOR DID IN THAT, UH, ORDER HE ISSUED YESTERDAY WITH RESPECT TO BUSINESSES, UH, THE PROHIBITIONS ON VISITING NURSING HOMES CONTINUES.
UH, THERE'S ALSO WORDING THAT MINIMIZES THE MOVEMENT OF STAFF BETWEEN FACILITIES, WHICH IS, AGAIN, CONSISTENT WITH WHAT, UH, OUR LOCAL ORDERS DO.
IT HIGHLY ENCOURAGES THE USE OF FACE COVERINGS, BUT IT DOES FALL SHORT OF ACT OF HAVING LOCAL ENTITIES ISSUE CIVIL OR CRIMINAL PENALTIES FOR FAILURE TO WEAR A FACE COVERING.
UM, SO WE WILL BE WORKING, UH, OBVIOUSLY WITH THE MAYOR'S OFFICE, WITH THE COUNCIL, UH, AND WITH ERIC, UH, AND COORDINATING WITH THE COUNTY IN TERMS OF HOW WE ADDRESS OUR FACE COVERING, UH, REQUIREMENT IN LIGHT OF THE GOVERNOR'S NEW ORDER.
UH, THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT ORDER 18 DOES SAY THAT IT SUPERSEDES LOCAL ORDERS, BUT ONLY TO THE EXTENT THAT ANYTHING IN THE LOCAL ORDER DIRECTLY CONFLICTS WITH THE GOVERNOR'S ORDER.
SO IN, IN OTHER WORDS, IT DID ENVISION THAT THERE WILL STILL BE IN PLACE, UH, LOCAL EMERGENCY ORDERS.
ALSO INCLUDED IN THE, UH, RE REPORT WAS, UH, IN THE GOVERNOR'S ORDER, WAS A, UH, REFERENCE TO A, UH, A, UH, LEAFLET OR PUBLICATION, UH, THAT THE, UH, STATE HAS ISSUED IN TERMS OF HELPING SOME OF THESE BUSINESSES DEAL WITH, UH, HOW THEY'LL BE REOPENING.
UH, IT DOES ALSO INCLUDE, UH, THEIR PLAN FOR A LONG-TERM, UH, LONG-TERM CARE FACILITIES IN THE STATE, UH, WHAT THEIR EXPECTATIONS ARE IN TERMS OF TESTING, UH, AND HEALTH PROTOCOLS FOR BOTH INDIVIDUALS, EMPLOYERS, AND EMPLOYEES.
AS WE FACE THE, THE REOPENING OF CERTAIN BUSINESSES.
AND IT PROVIDES SPECIFIC GUIDANCE ON SOME OF THE REOPENED SERVICES LIKE RESTAURANTS, THEATERS, MUSEUMS, ET CETERA.
FOR EXAMPLE, UNDER MOVIE THEATERS, THEY REQUIRE THAT EVERY OTHER ROW, UH, BE, UH, VACANT.
AND, UH, THAT'S JUST AN EXAMPLE OF SOME OF THE SPECIFIC CRITERIA THAT'S FOUND IN THE, UH, OPEN TEXAS PAMPHLET.
THERE WAS ALSO SOME UPDATES ON THE HOUSE OF WORSHIP.
UH, AGAIN, UH, CHURCHES AND HOUSES OF WORSHIP ARE ENCOURAGED TO AS MUCH AS THEY CAN, UH, CONDUCT THEIR ACTIVITIES REMOTELY.
UH, AND THEY ARE ALSO ASKED TO FOLLOW C
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D C GUIDANCE.UH, FOR THOSE CHURCHES THOUGH THAT DO HAVE, UH, SERVICES IN THE CHURCH OR IN HOUSE, UH, THEY DO PROVIDE GUIDANCE IN TERMS OF DESIGNATING AREAS FOR AT-RISK POPULATIONS, PARTICULARLY PEOPLE 65 AND OLDER, UH, ALTERNATING ROWS, MUCH LIKE AT, UH, MOVIE THEATERS.
UH, EVERY OTHER ROW WOULD BE EMPTY, UH, SCREENING OF EMPLOYEES AND VOLUNTEERS AND LIKE MANY OTHER BUSINESSES, WHETHER THEY BE ESSENTIAL OR NON-ESSENTIAL TO MAKE SURE THAT EMPLOYEES WHO SHOW ANY SYMPTOMS OR WHO ARE ILL, UH, GO HOME.
IN THE PRESS CONFERENCE, UH, HE DID MENTION A COUPLE THINGS THAT WERE EITHER NOT IN THE ORDER, UH, OR NOT IN THE REOPEN TEXAS, UH, PAMPHLET.
UH, HE DID SAY THAT OUTDOOR SPORTS ARE ALLOWED, UH, UH, ACTIVE SPORTS, UH, BUT THEY'RE LIMITED TO FOUR PARTICIPANTS.
AND HE DID, UH, NOTE THAT THAT PARTICIPATION SHOULD BE ON A NON-CONTACT BASIS.
UH, SO IN OTHER WORDS, A FOURSOME CAN PLAY GOLF AS LONG AS THEY EXERCISE SOCIAL DISTANCING.
BUT, UH, THERE'S NO WAY OBVIOUSLY PLAYING TWO ON TWO BASKETBALL THAT YOU CAN EXERCISE SOCIAL DISTANCING BECAUSE THAT NECESSARILY ENTAILS, UH, PHYSICAL CONTACT.
HE ALSO SPOKE ABOUT CHILDCARE AVAILABILITY, UH, AND, UH, EMPHASIZED THAT THAT AVAILABILITY RIGHT NOW IS FOCUSED ON ESSENTIAL WORKERS, AND THEY ARE STILL LOOKING AT, THE STATE IS STILL LOOKING AT HOW TO PROCEED WITH, UH, CHILDCARE ACCESSIBILITY FOR NON-ESSENTIAL WORKERS.
AND THEY'RE ALSO LOOKING AT SUMMER CAMPS, GIVEN THAT A LOT OF PARENTS RIGHT NOW ARE TRYING TO DETERMINE WHAT, UH, AVAILABILITY OF ANY IS GONNA BE FOR SUMMER CAMPS, UH, COMING THIS SUMMER.
UM, THE OTHER THING HE'S LOOKING AT IS EXPANDING THE, UH, WHAT BUSINESSES WILL BE INCLUDED IN THE REOPENING, UH, INCLUDING HAIR SALONS, ET CETERA, AND WHETHER THE, UH, BUSINESSES THAT WILL BE UNDER THE REOPEN CATEGORY IN MAY, WHETHER THEY CAN EXTEND THEIR OCCUPANCY FROM 25 TO 50%.
THE OTHER ORDERS, HE ISSUED TWO OTHER ORDERS, UH, ORDER EXECUTIVE, UH, ORDER 19, THAT ADDRESSED THE REOPENING OF HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONAL SERVICES.
DENTISTS, UH, HE MENTIONED A COUPLE TIMES THEY MAY PRACTICE, BUT THEIR RESPECTIVE, UH, PRACTICES, UH, WILL ISSUE, UH, FOR THOSE, UH, HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS, THOSE, UH, REQUIREMENTS THAT THEY WILL NEED TO IMPLEMENT BEFORE THEY CAN START PRACTICING IN TERMS OF MITIGATING SPREAD OF C OVID 19.
UNDER ORDER 19, ALSO, HOSPITALS MUST RESERVE 15% OF THEIR CAPACITY FOR TREATMENT OF C OVID 19 PATIENTS.
LAST BUT NOT LEAST, THE, UH, THE ORDER 20, UH, THAT THE GOVERNOR ISSUED TALKED ABOUT THE, UH, TRAVEL, UH, RESTRICTIONS AND REQUIREMENTS FROM, UH, PARTICULARLY PLACES THAT ARE HOTSPOTS, UH, FOR C OVID 19, UH, THE, PRIMARILY THE RESTRICTION ON THE STATE OF LOUISIANA WAS LIFTED.
NO MORE QUARANTINE, QUARANTINE REQUIREMENTS FOR PEOPLE TRAVELING IN FROM LOUISIANA.
HOWEVER, FOR AIR TRAVEL, UH, YOU STILL ARE REQUIRED TO HAVE, UH, 14 DAYS OF QUARANTINE IF YOU'RE COMING IN.
OR ONE OF YOUR POINTS OF DEPARTURE WAS, UH, THE STATES OF CALIFORNIA, CONNECTICUT, NEW YORK, NEW JERSEY, WASHINGTON, OR FROM THE CITIES OF ATLANTA, CHICAGO, DETROIT, OR MIAMI.
SO THAT COVERS THE EXTENT OF THE GOVERNOR'S ORDERS AND THE HIGHLIGHTS FROM HIS PRESS CONFERENCE.
AGAIN, WHAT I HIGHLIGHT IS THAT THE, UH, THE PRIMARY STRUCTURE OF HAVING ESSENTIAL AND NON-ESSENTIAL BUSINESSES AND ACTIVITIES AND THE RESTRICTIONS ON GATHERINGS ARE REMAIN IN PLACE.
AND, UH, I THINK AS THE JUDGE MENTIONED, THERE'S STILL ROOM, UH, TO HAVE OUR LOCAL ORDERS IN PLACE THAT ADDRESS, UH, LOCAL REQUIREMENTS AS WELL.
WITH THAT, I THINK I'LL PASS IT ON TO THE MAYOR.
UM, AT THIS TIME, UM, LET ME INTRODUCE, UM, THE DOCTOR OF THE HOUR.
SHE IS THE ASSOCIATE DEAN OF, UH, INFECTIOUS DISEASE AT UT HEALTH.
SAN ANTONIO, UM, IS ALSO, UH, SHE IS ALSO THE CHAIR OF OUR HEALTH TRANSITION TEAM.
UM, AS YOU KNOW, IN CONSULTATION WITH THE COURT AND THE COUNSEL, THE JUDGE AND I APPOINTED A HEALTH TRANSITION TEAM A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO TO WORK, UH, THROUGH THE VARIOUS HEALTH GUIDANCE THAT WE WOULD NEED TO HAVE IN PLACE IN ORDER TO MAKE A SAFE REOPENING OF ACTIVITIES AND BUSINESSES IN OUR COMMUNITY.
THINGS SUCH AS THE DIAGNOSTIC CAPACITY TO IDENTIFY AND TEST AND, AND TRACK NEW INFECTIONS THAT WE'VE, THAT MAY OCCUR, UM, OUR ABILITY TO TREAT THOSE THAT OCCUR, UM, OUR, UH, CONDITIONS FOR SURVEILLANCE AND OTHER, UM, CONSIDERATIONS FOR A, A PHASED REOPENING, A CAREFUL REOPENING OF THE COMMUNITY.
I'M, I'M HAPPY TO SAY THAT, UH, IF, IF YOU ALL HAVE REVIEWED THE DOCUMENT THAT YOU GOT EARLY TODAY OR LATE YESTERDAY,
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UH, THEY'VE DONE A TREMENDOUS JOB.AND I WANT TO THANK, UM, COMMISSIONER RODRIGUEZ AND COUNCIL MEMBER SANDOVAL FOR HELPING GUIDE THE EFFORT IN COLLECTING ALL OF THE GUIDANCE AND QUESTIONS FROM OUR COLLEAGUES AS THE PROCESS UNFOLDED.
UM, I'M VERY ANXIOUS TO HEAR THE REPORT.
UM, AND SO AT THIS POINT, UH, JUDGE, I DON'T KNOW IF YOU HAVE ANY, UH, ANY COMMENTS YOU WANNA ADD BEFORE DR.
TAYLOR TAKES THE FLOOR? WELL, I THINK, UH, YOU KNOW, DR.
TAYLOR AND THEM BEEN WORKING ON THIS REPORT FOR I, I GUESS A COUPLE OF WEEKS OR SO.
AND THIS, THE WORK WAS DONE BEFORE THE GOVERNOR TOOK HIS ACTION YESTERDAY.
SO I THINK, UH, UH, WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO CONCENTRATE ON THE PARTS OF THE REPORT THAT WOULD DEAL WITH HOW DO WE HANDLE THE OPENING FROM A HEALTH PERSPECTIVE.
AND, UH, UH, THAT SEEMS TO ME TO BE THE BIGGEST ISSUE BEFORE US, BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, BOTH OUR ORDERS EXPIRE ON APRIL THE FIRST, I THINK.
AND SO WE WILL HAVE TO DO SOMETHING NEW HERE WITHIN THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS TO, UH, UH, TAKE SOME STEPS TO ADD, UH, ADDITIONAL PROTECTION.
TAYLOR, UH, YOU HAVE THE FLOOR.
UH, THANK YOU SO MUCH, MAYOR NUREMBERG AND JUDGE WOLF AND THE ENTIRE CITY COUNCIL AND COUNTY COMMISSIONERS.
IT HAS REALLY BEEN AN HONOR TO LEAD THIS TEAM, AND I AM EXCITED ON BEHALF OF THE TEAM TO BE ABLE TO PRESENT OUR GUIDANCE TO YOU.
UM, MAY I HAVE THE FIRST SLIDE, PLEASE? SO, I WILL SAY, WHILE WE'RE WAITING WITH REGARD TO JUDGE WOLF'S STATEMENT AS WE GO ALONG, I'LL TRY TO POINT OUT, AS HE SAID, WE WERE, WE'VE BEEN DEVELOPING THIS GUIDANCE OVER THE LAST WEEK, WEEK AND A HALF.
AND SO IT, IT IS SORT OF EVOLVING.
AND THEN THE GOVERNOR'S REPORT CAME OUT YESTERDAY, SO I'LL TRY TO DO A LITTLE BIT OF POINTING OUT WHERE OUR HEALTH-BASED GUIDANCE IS A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT.
BUT, UH, WE WANTED DELTA TO HEAR OUR GUIDANCE FROM THE TEAM, UM, FROM THE GET-GO.
SO, THE INTENT OF THIS GUIDANCE IS REALLY TO ASSIST Y'ALL.
WE WANT TO HELP THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO AND BEXAR COUNTY AS THEY FORMULATE PLANS TO OPEN OUR COMMUNITY.
WE HAVE BASED THIS GUIDANCE ON EXISTING PUBLIC HEALTH EVIDENCE, DATA, AND OUR OWN EXPERTISE, AND INFORMED IT WITH SHARED VALUES, INCLUDING A COLLECTIVE COMMITMENT TO EQUITY AND SERVICE TO THE COMMUNITY THAT EVERY MEMBER OF THE TEAM FEELS STRONGLY.
THIS IS A LIST OF ALL OF OUR TEAM MEMBERS.
WE ARE A BIG TEAM AND WE ARE DIVERSE.
WE ARE EVERY, WE ENCOMPASS EVERYTHING FROM FRONTLINE WORKERS WHO ARE ON THE COVID SERVICE AT UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL, TO HOSPITAL LEADERSHIP TO PUBLIC HEALTH EXPERTISE, WITH GREAT REPRESENTATION FROM THE SAN ANTONIO METROPOLITAN HEALTH DISTRICT.
WE ALSO HAVE A PASTOR AND AN ETHICIST.
SO WE ARE VERY GRATEFUL, AND I AM PERSONALLY VERY HONORED TO HAVE BEEN ABLE TO LEAD SUCH A TEAM OF ESTEEMED INDIVIDUALS AND CLINICIANS AND PUBLIC HEALTH PROFESSIONALS.
SO ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS WE DID WAS TALK ABOUT OUR GUIDING PRINCIPLES.
SO WE ARE GUIDED AS ALWAYS BY BENEFICENCE, ONE OF THE PRIMARY PILLARS OF, OF HEALTH IN FACT, AND HEALTH ACTION, WHICH MEANS THAT WE PRIORITIZE THE COMMUNITY'S WELLBEING.
BUT ONE OF THE THINGS ABOUT THIS GUIDANCE IS THAT WE RECOGNIZE THAT HEALTH AND ECONOMIC PROSPERITY ARE VERY TIGHTLY LINKED, NOT JUST IN IN OUR COMMUNITY, BUT IN EVERY COMMUNITY.
IT IS VERY HARD TO HAVE EXCELLENT HEALTH WITHOUT BEING PROSPEROUS ECONOMICALLY AND VICE VERSA.
SO WE TRY TO TAKE THAT INTO CONSIDERATION THROUGHOUT.
WE HAVE A COMMITMENT TO EVIDENCE-BASED DECISION MAKING AND RESPONSIVENESS TO NEW INFORMATION.
IT IS EVOLVING RAPIDLY, AND THERE ARE THINGS WE DON'T KNOW, BUT WE TRY TO DO THE BEST WE CAN WITH THE DATA.
WE HAVE TO MAKE INFORMED DECISIONS.
WE RESPECT AUTONOMY, RECOGNIZING THAT INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM AND PRIVACY.
PRIVACY ARE SOMETHING THAT IS VERY IMPORTANT.
AND IN CASES LIKE THIS, IN THE CASE OF A PANDEMIC, WHEN WE ARE RECOMMENDING ANY LIMITATIONS TO INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM, WE MUST TAKE THAT VERY SERIOUSLY AND DO IT WITH CONSIDERATION.
WE HAVE DONE OUR BEST TO BE AN UNBIASED AND PER PLACE YOUR INTERESTS ABOVE
[00:30:01]
OURS.AND THEN EQUITY, PARTICULARLY WITH THIS EPIDEMIC WITH C OVID 19, THOSE GROUPS WHO ARE MORE AT RISK ARE PEOPLE WE SPECIFICALLY HAVE TO LOOK OUT FOR.
SO WE WENT INTO THIS WITH A GUIDING FRAMEWORK OF EQUITY.
SO WE GATHERED EXPERTISE AND DISCUSSED AND AGREED UPON GUIDING PRINCIPLES.
SIMULTANEOUSLY, WE GATHERED RESOURCES INCLUDING A REVIEW OF THE EXISTING REOPENING PLAN STUDY OF THE MEDICAL AND HEALTH LITERATURE AND DATA FROM SAN ANTONIO AND BEXAR COUNTY.
WE BUILT CONSENSUS AMONGST OUR TEAM TO CRAFT DRAFT GUIDELINES, AND THEN HAD AN ITERATIVE REVIEW OF WRITING FEEDBACK AND INCORPORATION OF FEEDBACK FROM THE TEAM LIAISONS AND ADVISORS TO CREATE THIS FINAL REPORT AND GUIDANCE.
SO OUR GUIDANCE IS TETHERED AROUND INDICATORS.
SO INDICATORS ARE SIGNS THAT THINGS ARE EITHER GOING WELL OR POTENTIALLY WE SHOULD BE CONCERNED WITHIN OUR COMMUNITY.
SO WE RECOGNIZE THAT REOPENING OF ANY SORT IN SAN ANTONIO AND BEXAR COUNTY REQUIRES CAREFUL CONSIDERATION OF THE RISK AND WILL BRING RISK.
WE ACKNOWLEDGE THAT, BUT THERE ARE WAYS THAT WE CAN KNOW THAT WE ARE HEADED IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION, THAT WE PROPOSE THE FOLLOWING PROGRESS IN INDICATORS WHICH ALIGN WITH MANY OTHER PLANS THAT WILL TELL US IF OUR COMMUNITY RESPONSE TO C OVID 19 IS EFFECTIVE.
THE FIRST IS A SUSTAINED DECLINE IN THE NUMBER OF NEW CASES OF C OVID, 19 OVER 14 DAYS.
THE SECOND, AN ABILITY TO TEST FOR EVERYONE WITH SYMPTOMS OF C OVID 19 CLOSE CONTACT IN THOSE IN PUBLIC FACING ROLES.
THE INTERESTING THING ABOUT THIS PARTICULAR PATHOGEN AND A RESPIRATORY VIRUS IN GENERAL IS THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF FOCUS, AS WAS MENTIONED EARLIER ON HEALTHCARE WORKERS.
BUT WE ALSO HAVE TO THINK OF OTHER PUBLIC FACING FOLKS, PEOPLE WHO WORK IN SHELTERS OR PEOPLE WHO WORK ON THE FRONT LINES OF A GROCERY STORE.
THE THIRD INDICATOR IS CONTACT TRACING.
WE HAVE TO HAVE EFFECTIVE CONTACT TRACING CAPACITY.
AND THE FINAL INDICATOR IS A PREPARED HEALTHCARE SYSTEM.
BECAUSE THIS IS A DYNAMIC PROCESS, THE CALCULATION OF PROGRESS AND, AND WARNING INDICATORS IS GOING TO BE OPERATIONALIZED, AND I WOULD SAY IS ALREADY BEING OPERATIONALIZED BY THE UNIFIED COMMAND OF SAN ANTONIO AND BEXAR COUNTY EMERGENCY OPERATIONS CENTER.
EMMERICH'S PRIOR PRESENTATION.
THEY ARE WORKING TO MAKE ALL OF THESE INDICATORS, MANY OF WHICH ARE ALREADY ON A PUBLIC FACING DASHBOARD INTO A PUBLIC FACING DASHBOARD.
THE SECOND SET OF INDICATORS ARE WARNING INDICATORS.
SO AS WE REOPEN, IT IS VERY IMPORTANT FOR US TO KNOW WHEN THINGS ARE HEADED IN THE WRONG DIRECTION, AND TO ANTICIPATE THAT AND TO RESPOND APPROPRIATELY.
WE PROPOSE THREE INDICATORS FOR THIS.
THE FIRST IS A DECREASE IN THE NUMBER OF DAYS IT TAKES FOR C OVID 19 CASES IN OUR COMMUNITY TO DOUBLE.
SO THAT'S SORT OF AN INDICATION OF HOW QUICKLY CASES ARE RISING IN OUR COMMUNITY.
IN, IN MEDICAL AND PUBLIC HEALTH PARLANCE, THAT'S CALLED DOUBLING TIME.
THE SECOND IS AN INCREASE IN THE PERCENTAGE OF TESTS THAT ARE SUGGESTED ACTIVE INFECTION.
SO THIS IS A PERCENT POSITIVE OF ALL THE TESTS BEING RUN.
IF THAT STARTS GOING UP, THEN WE KNOW WE ARE HEADED IN THE WRONG DIRECTION.
AND THEN FINALLY, OUR INDICATORS OF HEALTH SYSTEM STRESS.
I WOULD ADD AGAIN, THAT METRO HEALTH AND STRAC AND UNIFIED COMMAND ARE ALREADY MONITORING ALL OF THESE, BUT ANY REDUCTION IN AVAILABILITY OF PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT, HOSPITAL BED OR VENTILATOR CAPACITY OR INCREASE IS IN E M SS CALLS COULD BE INDICATIONS THAT WE'RE HEADED IN THE WRONG DIRECTION.
AND SO WE CAN USE THIS ACTUALLY TO LET US KNOW HOW WE ARE DOING AS FAR AS, UM, RESPONDING TO THE EPIDEMIC AND WHEN WE MIGHT GET IN IN TROUBLE.
AND SO THEY'VE ALREADY ITERATED THIS, AND I WOULD ENCOURAGE YOU ALL TO KEEP AN EYE ON THIS DASHBOARD IN THE COMING DAYS.
A CRITICAL PART OF, UH, BOTH OUR PLAN AND INDEED ALSO THE GOVERNOR'S PLAN IS CAPACITY EXPANSION.
AND WE WOULD RECOMMEND CAPACITY EXPANSION ALONG TWO SPECIFIC LINES.
SO CONTACT TRACING WE RECOMMEND WOULD BE INCREASED 175 INVESTIGATORS.
CURRENTLY, THERE ARE 17 CASE INVESTIGATORS AND ALSO 70 TRAINED VOLUNTEERS.
I'M PROUD TO SAY THAT MANY OF THOSE NOW TRAINED VOLUNTEERS IN CASE INVESTIGATION ARE STUDENTS AT UT HEALTH AND THE SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AND NURSING STUDENTS AT UNI.
[00:35:01]
OF THE ATE WARD SCHOOL OF MEDICINE, AND STUDENTS AT UT HEALTH SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH.WE ALSO NEED TO BE ABLE TO SURGE IN CAPACITY IF WE HAVE ANOTHER, ANY OUTBREAKS OR SPECIFIC FOCI OF CASES IN OUR COMMUNITY.
WE ALSO NEED CAPACITY EXPANSION AND TESTING.
THIS IS CALLED FOR, I THINK, IN EVERY SINGLE PLAN, INCLUDING THE GOVERNOR'S PLAN.
OUR CURRENT TESTING IS APPROXIMATELY 1600 TESTS PER DAY.
WE WOULD RECOMMEND EXPANSION TO A CAPACITY OF OVER 3000 TESTS A DAY.
THAT'S TWICE OUR CURRENT TESTING CAPACITY.
THIS NUMBER IS ACTUALLY BASED ON AN ESTIMATE FROM GOVERNOR ABBOTT'S REPORT AND IS SLIGHTLY HIGHER THAN GOVERNOR GOVERNOR ABBOTT'S RECOMMENDATION.
AND IT IS ALSO OUR HOPE THAT THE EXISTING VERY IMPRESSIVE PUBLIC-PRIVATE COLLABORATION THAT IS TAKING PLACE WITHIN THE SAN ANTONIO METROPOLITAN HEALTH DISTRICT AND STRS TESTING TASK FORCE CONTINUE, AND THAT PRIVATE LABORATORIES ARE NOW ABLE TO SUPPLEMENT TESTING CAPACITY IN PUBLIC HOSPITALS AND PUBLIC LABORATORIES.
WHEN WE TALK ABOUT TESTING, A LOT OF TIMES WE THINK OF SOMEBODY IN A LAB WITH A TEST TUBE, BUT WE WANTED TO PUT THIS IN THE REPORT JUST SO THAT Y'ALL CAN SEE THAT TESTING IS ACTUALLY AN INCREDIBLY COMPLICATED PROCESS.
IF YOU LOOK ACROSS THE PROCESS GOING FROM WHERE TESTING IS INDICATED, ALL THE WAY TO EVEN THE RESULTS, JUST GETTING BACK TO THE PATIENT, THIS GIVES YOU AN IDEA OF THE RESOURCES REQUIRED TO DO THAT SUCCESSFULLY.
WE HAVE SEEN ALREADY IN THE COURSE OF THE EPIDEMIC SCARCITY IN MANY OF THESE RESOURCES REQUIRED, BUT IT ALSO HIGHLIGHTS THE REAL IMPORTANCE OF ENGAGEMENT WITH COMMUNITY.
WE VERY MUCH NEED SAN ANTONIO AND BEXAR COUNTY RESIDENTS TO UNDERSTAND WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF COVID 19, HOW THEY CAN ACCESS TO TESTING THE FACT THAT FREE ACCESS TO TESTING IS AVAILABLE AND ACTUALLY PROACTIVE REACH OUT INTO COMMUNITIES TO MAKE TESTING MORE AVAILABLE.
OUR GUIDANCE IS DIFFERENT FROM THE GOVERNOR'S GUIDANCE IN THAT WE VERY SPECIFICALLY LEAN ON WHAT WE BELIEVE IS PUBLIC HEALTH AND MEDICAL MEDICALLY INFORMED RISK ASSESSMENT TO GUIDE RECOMMENDATIONS BY SECTOR.
SO, AS WAS MENTIONED EARLIER, UM, THE GOVERNOR'S GUIDANCE STILL DIVIDES ACTIVITIES AND BUSINESSES INTO ESSENTIAL AND NON-ESSENTIAL.
OUR TEAM REALLY RECOGNIZING THE IMPORTANCE AND THE INTERSECTION OF, OF THE ECONOMY AND HEALTH, DID NOT WANT TO USE ESSENTIAL AND NON-ESSENTIAL AS A CLASSIFICATION.
SO INSTEAD, WE RELIED ON A RISK ASSESSMENT STRATEGY THAT WAS ACTUALLY DEVELOPED BY THE HOPKINS, JOHNS HOPKINS, UH, BLOOMBERG SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH TO DETERMINE RISK BY ACTIVITY.
RISK IN THIS CONTEXT IS DETERMINED BY CONTACT INTENSITY.
SO THAT'S THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO ARE CLOSE TO YOU AND HOW LONG THAT CLOSENESS LASTS IN A GIVEN SETTING.
THE SECOND ONE IS THE NUMBER OF CONTACTS, SO THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO ARE COMING IN AND BEING THAT CLOSE TO YOU.
AND THEN FINALLY, THE MODIFICATION POTENTIAL.
SO HOW EASY IS IT TO CHANGE THAT ACTIVITY? TO REDUCE THE RISK, EITHER REDUCE CONTACT INTENSITY BY THINGS LIKE PHYSICAL DISTANCING, REDUCE NUMBER OF CONTACTS, THOSE TYPE OF MITIGATION STRATEGIES WE HOPE AND ACTUALLY HAS ALREADY BEEN HAPPENING.
WE'RE VERY GRATEFUL FOR THE DIALOGUE THAT EXISTS BETWEEN THE HEALTH TRANSITION TEAM AND THAT ECONOMIC TRANSITION TEAM THAT THIS WILL BE HELPFUL FOR THEM AS THEY FRAME STRATEGIES BY SECTOR.
SO THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF TALK OF PHASES, AND SO I JUST WANT TO FRAME THIS AND SAY THAT THE PHASES IN, IN OUR GUIDANCE, THE NUMBERS ARE DIFFERENT FROM THE GOVERNOR'S PHASES.
SO I'M GONNA TALK ABOUT OUR PHASES, AND THEY'RE BASICALLY JUST ONE OFF FROM THE GOVERNOR'S PHASES.
SO OUR PHASE ONE IS WHERE WE CURRENTLY ARE.
PHASE TWO, WE WOULD PROPOSE OR SUGGEST A STAGE REOPENING BY RISK ASSESSMENT PHASE THREE AND EASING OF RESTRICTIONS IN THE CONTEXT OF IMPROVING CONDITIONS.
AND PHASE FOUR IS REALLY PANDEMIC PREPAREDNESS.
THAT'S A WAYS AWAY, BUT THAT MEANS WE ARE OUT OF THE COVID TO 19 PANDEMIC, AND WE CAN THINK ABOUT LEARNING FROM WHAT WE HAVE EXPERIENCED AND GAINING GROUND FOR MOVING FORWARD.
SO PHASE ONE, I'M NOT GONNA TALK MUCH ABOUT BECAUSE WE'RE ALL VERY FAMILIAR WITH THIS PHASE.
WE'RE MAINTAINING, UH, PHYSICAL DISTANCING.
WE'RE INCREASING TESTING CAPACITY.
WE'RE OPTIMIZING OUR HEALTHCARE SYSTEM FUNCTIONING, IMPROVING DISEASE MONITORING, DOING CONTACT TRACING, AND FOCUSING ON THINGS LIKE MASKING HAND HYGIENE AND SURFACE CLEANING.
THE REAL GOAL OF THIS PHASE, WHICH IN
[00:40:01]
THE GOVERNOR'S REPORT IS PHASE ZERO, IS SLOWING THE TRANSMISSION OF C OVID 19 INCREASING TESTING CAPACITY, MAKING SURE WE'RE READY, AND THEN GETTING READY FOR PHASE TWO, WHICH IS A GRADUAL REOPENING.PHASE TWO, AS I MENTIONED, IS A STAGED OPEN BY RISK ASSESSMENT.
AND THIS IS SORT OF OUR GUIDANCE AND RECOMMENDATIONS THAT WE WOULD BE ABLE TO RESUME ACTIVITIES THAT TAKES PLACE IN STAGES THAT DOES ALIGN WITH THE TEXAS PLAN, CONTINUE RISK MITIGATION, AND IT REALLY REQUIRES A TEAM EFFORT AND COMMUNITY OUTREACH TO DO THIS WHILE MONITORING THOSE WARNING INDICATORS THAT I MENTIONED EARLIER.
SO THE RISK ASSESSMENT, WHICH I MENTIONED EARLIER ALONG THREE PARAMETERS, CONTACT INTENSITY, NUMBER OF CONTACT AND MODIFICATIONS POTENTIAL REALLY LOOKS LIKE THIS.
SO FOR EACH CATEGORY OR SECTOR OF BUSINESSES, THERE IS A QUALITATIVE, BUT EXPERTISE AND DATA-DRIVEN ASSESSMENT OF WHAT LEVEL THEY ARE.
SO IS YOUR CONTACT INTENSITY? LOW, MEDIUM, OR HIGH? IS, ARE YOUR NUMBERS OF CONTACTS LOW, MEDIUM, OR HIGH? AND HOW IS YOUR MODIFICATION POTENTIAL? SO YOU'LL SEE, AND THIS, THIS IS AN EXAMPLE OF ONE OF THE TABLES OF MANY IN OUR GUIDANCE, HOW THIS LOOKS.
SO FOR EXAMPLE, AND YOU WILL ALSO SEE THAT THIS IS A BASELINE.
SO MODIFICATION POTENTIAL CAN BE USED TO LOWER RISK IN I WOULD SAY ALMOST EVERY SETTING.
AND SO IF YOU THINK ABOUT SOMETHING LIKE A RESTAURANT AND WHY A RESTAURANT IS SORT OF MEDIUM RISK ACROSS THE BOARD, THAT IS YOU CAN CONTROL THE SPACE OF PEOPLE BETWEEN, UH, SPACE, BETWEEN TABLES.
YOU CAN REQUEST MASKING WHEN PEOPLE AREN'T EATING.
YOU CAN MAKE SURE PEOPLE STAY IN FAMILY UNITS.
SALONS AND SPAS DO REQUIRE INTENSE CONTACT, BUT REDUCE NUMBER OF CONTACT IF YOU, AGAIN, OBSERVE PHYSICAL DISTANCING WITHIN THE, UM, SETTING.
AND THEN RETAILERS CAN REDUCE CONTACT.
INTENSITY BARS IS AN INTERESTING CATEGORY BECAUSE I THINK IT'S A GREAT EXAMPLE OF HOW MUCH MITIGATION COULD AFFECT A RISK ASSESSMENT.
WE HAVE MANY BARS IN SAN ANTONIO AND IN BEXAR COUNTY THAT ARE OUTDOORS.
SO THOSE BARS HAVE A VERY DIFFERENT LEVEL OF RISK THAN A SMALL INTIMATE BAR WHERE LOTS OF PEOPLE ARE IN A THE SAME SMALL SPACE.
OBVIOUSLY EACH BUSINESS, EACH SECTOR WILL HAVE TO CONSIDER ITS OWN FRAMEWORK AND ITS OWN RISK FOR ITS BOTH EMPLOYEES AND CLIENTS.
SO THIS IS JUST AN EXAMPLE, AND ACTUALLY IT DOES ALIGN WITH THE, UH, OPEN TEXAS PLAN THAT TALKS ABOUT HOW ONE COULD SLOWLY REENTER, UM, A RESTAURANT.
FOR EXAMPLE, COULD O OPEN AT A LOW OR REDUCE OPERATIONAL CAPACITY FOR A REENTRY PHASE WHILE WE ALL MONITOR THE WARNING INDICATORS THAT WE DISCUSSED EARLIER.
THEN THEY COULD OPEN FURTHER, MAKING SURE THAT THEY'RE PROTECTING BOTH THEIR CLIENTS AND THEIR EMPLOYEES.
THERE WOULD NEED TO BE MONITORING OF THIS.
AND I THINK THE ECONOMIC TRANSITION TEAM IS WORKING REALLY, UH, DILIGENTLY TO MAKE SURE THAT THERE IS ACTUALLY WHAT WE WOULD CALL IN MEDICINE AND HEALTH PEER-TO-PEER SUPPORT, UM, WHICH IS SORT OF RESTAURANTS HELPING OTHER RESTAURANTS OR LARGE BUSINESSES WHO HAVE PLANS HELPING OTHER BUSINESSES WHO ARE WORKING ON THEIR PLANS TO REALLY PURSUE MITIGATION STRATEGIES THAT PROTECT THE HEALTH OF EVERYONE.
SO PHASE TWO, THESE ARE OUR RECOMMENDED COMPONENTS OF PHASE TWO.
SO THERE'S A, A WHOLE TABLE THAT YOU CAN REVIEW IN THE REPORT, SO I'LL JUST GO OVER IT QUICKLY.
BUT CHILDCARE FACILITIES, MANY OF WHOM, MANY OF WHICH REMAINED OPEN, COULD OPEN WITH CLEAR MITIGATION STRATEGIES, INCLUDING POTENTIALLY SUMMER CAMPS THAT DON'T OFFER CONGREGATE LIVING FOR NOW UNTIL THINGS CHANGE.
HIGHER DENSITY CONTACT ACTIVITIES LIKE SCHOOL OR CONTACT SCHOOL SPORTS WOULD NOT BE RECOMMENDED.
UM, RETAIL AND RESTAURANTS COULD DO THE GRADUAL REOPENING STRATEGY THAT WE RECOMMENDED IN THE SPACE BEFORE.
OUTDOOR SPACES ARE VERY EASY IN SOME WAYS TO MITIGATE CONTACT INTENSITY AND CONTACT DURATION AND CONTACT, UH, NUMBER OF CONTACTS.
AND SO THOSE THINGS COULD POTENTIALLY BE REOPENED, BUT IN A PLACE WHERE LOTS OF PEOPLE ARE COMING TOGETHER AND DRAWING A CROWD, THEN THAT WOULD OBVIOUSLY BE MORE RISKY.
[00:45:02]
COMMUNITY GATHERING SPACES.THERE'S A LOT OF DEBATE ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT LIBRARIES ARE RISKY OR NON-RISKY.
I REALLY WOULD ADD THAT IT CAN, IT DEPENDS ON THE CONTEXT OF THE LIBRARY.
THERE ARE SOME LIBRARIES THAT ARE VERY HIGH, HIGH VOLUME.
THERE ARE OTHERS THAT ARE NOT.
UM, TRANSPORTATION MASS GATHERINGS.
INTERPERSONAL GATHERINGS ARE ALL THINGS THAT WHERE RISK COULD POTENTIALLY TRANSPORTATION AND INTERPERSONAL GATHERING RISK COULD BE MITIGATED.
MASS GATHERINGS ARE VERY DIFFICULT TO THINK ABOUT BEING ABLE TO HAVE SAFELY UNTIL WE HAVE A TREATMENT OR EVEN POTENTIALLY A VACCINE.
THROUGHOUT PHASE TWO, THE CONTINUED RECOMMENDATION IS MASKING HAND HYGIENE AND SURFACE CLEANING.
PEOPLE HAVE REFERRED TO THIS AS OUR NEW NORMAL.
I, OUR, OUR TEAM DOESN'T REALLY LIKE THAT PHRASE, BUT IT IS A DIFFERENT WORLD THAT WE ARE LIVING IN NOW UNDER COVID 19.
SO PHASE THREE, THERE'S LESS DETAIL IN THE GUIDANCE ABOUT PHASE THREE BECAUSE QUITE FRANKLY, IT'S STILL PRETTY FAR OFF.
SO WE WOULD SUGGEST THAT IN PHASE THREE YOU COULD INCREASE CAPACITY AND OPERATIONS ACROSS BUSINESSES AND ENTERPRISES CONTINUE WITH HAND HYGIENE AND SURFACE CLEANING STANDARDS START TO POTENTIALLY DEIS ISOLATE DEESCALATE RESTRICTIONS.
BUT I THINK THE IMPORTANT THING TO KNOW ABOUT PHASE THREE IS ARE, IS TWOFOLD.
ONE, PHASE THREE REALLY REQUIRES THE ABILITY TO RISK MITIGATE ACROSS A POPULATION.
SO WHEN WE AS HEALTH PROFESSIONALS ARE THINKING ABOUT THAT, WE ARE REALLY THINKING ABOUT EFFECTIVE TREATMENT OR WIDESPREAD IMMUNITY.
THE OTHER THING IS, IN EACH OF THESE PHASES, CAREFUL POTENTIAL TO WARNING INDICATORS AND RAPID RESPONSE TO SMALL CLUSTERS OF INFECTIONS BEFORE THEY BECOME OUTBREAKS WILL BE ESSENTIAL.
FINALLY, PHASE FOUR IS PANDEMIC PREPAREDNESS.
WE THOUGHT THAT IT WAS IMPORTANT AS HEALTH PROFESSIONALS TO JUST HIGHLIGHT THIS BECAUSE IF WE ARE NOT LEARNING FROM WHAT IS HAPPENING CURRENTLY, THEN WE ARE DOING A DISSERVICE TO FUTURE GENERATIONS.
AS MAYOR NUREMBERG SAID, WE ARE ALL GOING TO BE IMPACTED LONG-TERM BY THE C 19 EPIDEMIC, AND WE AS HEALTH PROFESSIONALS WANT TO DO OUR BEST TO BE MORE READY FOR THE NEXT PANDEMIC.
THIS INCLUDES LOCAL CAPACITY BUILDING RESEARCH AND IMPROVEMENTS IN DISASTER PREPAREDNESS.
ALL RIGHT, ONE MORE FORWARD TO SLIDE 21, PLEASE.
SO AS I MENTIONED AT THE VERY BEGINNING, OUR TEAM FELT VERY STRONGLY THAT OUR GUIDANCE SHOULD BE GROUNDED IN PRINCIPLES OF EQUITY.
WE RECOGNIZE THAT RACIAL AND ECONOMIC DISPARITIES ARE VERY VAST AND DEEP IN SAN ANTONIO AND BEXAR COUNTY, AND WE WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE PRIORITIZE EFFORTS FOR THOSE WHO ARE MOST IMPACTED BY THE COVID 19 PANDEMIC.
ONE ARE THE PEOPLE WHO ARE MEDICALLY AT RISK.
SO THOSE WOULD BE FOLKS WHO ARE OVER THE AGE OF 65, OR ELDERLY PEOPLE WITH CHRONIC MEDICAL CONDITIONS, PEOPLE WHO HAVE, UM, HYPERTENSION OR DIABETES OR OBESITY, PEOPLE WHO ARE IN CONGREGATE SETTINGS, AND THEN ALSO THOSE WHO FALL INTO CATEGORY OF MARGINALIZED POPULATIONS.
SO THESE INCLUDE FOLKS WHO ARE FROM LOW-END COMMUNITIES OR COMMUNITIES OF COLOR, THE LGBTQIA PLUS COMMUNITY, PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES, AND ANYONE LIVING, UM, IN ANY KIND OF SHELTER.
FINALLY, WE THOUGHT IT WAS VERY IMPORTANT TO TALK ABOUT THE ELEMENTS THAT WOULD BE GAME CHANGERS, RECOGNIZING THAT OUR ENTIRE EPIDEMIC IS RESPONSE IS INFORMED BY OUR VERY RAPIDLY INVOLVING KNOWLEDGE OF COVID TO 19 AND THE SARS COV TO TWO VIRUS.
SO WE WANTED TO HIGHLIGHT THE THINGS THAT WOULD MAKE A DIFFERENCE ACROSS ALL OF THE PHASES AND WOULD, COULD POTENTIALLY MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN TERMS OF OUR ABILITY TO RISK MITIGATE.
SO THESE BREAKTHROUGHS WE PLACED INTO FOUR CATEGORIES.
THERE ARE MANY DIFFERENT WAYS THAT ONE COULD PARSE THESE.
THE FIRST WOULD BE IN TESTING.
SO IF WE WERE ABLE TO DO RAPID ONSITE TESTING AT WORK SITES AND MASK, MASK GATHERINGS AND HAVE THE RESPONSE IMMEDIATELY, THAT WOULD BE A GAME CHANGER
[00:50:01]
IF ANTIBODY TESTING, AND I SAY IF WITH EMPHASIS HAD HIGH VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY, I'M HAPPY TO TALK MORE ABOUT THIS IN QUESTIONS IF YOU LIKE.UM, AND WE KNEW THAT THAT ANTIBODY, SO IF WE KNEW THAT THE TESTING WAS RELIABLE AND ACCURATE AND WE KNEW THAT HAVING ANTIBODIES ACTUALLY CONVEYED IMMUNITY OR PROTECTION FROM INFECTION, THEN THAT COULD POTENTIALLY BE A GAME CHANGER.
AND FINALLY, THERE ARE MANY ADDITIONAL TESTING OPPORTUNITIES COMING ON BOARD THAT WOULD FACILITATE TESTING AND HELP SPEED THAT CASCADE.
THE NEXT BREAKTHROUGH WOULD BE TREATMENT.
OBVIOUSLY, IF A SAFE AND EFFECTIVE TREATMENT THAT IS A WIDELY AVAILABLE, REGARDLESS OF INCOME WERE AVAILABLE, THAT COULD CHANGE A LOT OF OUR ABILITY TO OPEN UP.
THERE ARE MANY FOLKS ON THE TEAM WHO ARE ALREADY WORKING ON TREATMENT TRIALS, SO WE ARE WATCHING THIS WITH GREAT INTEREST.
VACCINES WOULD BE TRULY A GAME CHANGER.
IT WOULD NEED TO BE SAFE, EFFECTIVE, AND AVAILABLE WITH NO OUT-OF-POCKET EXPENSE REGARDLESS OF INSURANCE STATUS.
PARTICULARLY IN A PLACE LIKE TEXAS WHERE THERE ARE SO MANY PEOPLE WHO ARE UNINSURED.
THIS IS MORE OF AN 18 MONTH TO TWO YEAR TIMELINE.
AND THEN FINALLY, KNOWLEDGE OF DISEASE TRANSMISSION.
SO WE DO NOT KNOW MUCH ABOUT THE ROLE THAT CHILDREN PLAY IN TRANSMISSION OF SARS COV TO TWO, THE VIRUS, THE CORONAVIRUS CHILDREN ARE LESS LIKELY TO BE TO BE SICK, BUT THEY DO BECOME INFECTED.
AND WE WOULD LIKE TO KNOW HOW THEY TRANSMIT AND HOW TO REDUCE THE RISK.
THIS WOULD PLAY A KEY ROLE IN OUR ABILITY TO DO THINGS LIKE REOPEN SCHOOLS AND THEN THE ROLE OF SYMPTOMATIC, ASYMPTOMATIC, SORRY, AND PRESYMPTOMATIC INFECTION.
PEOPLE WHO ARE ASYMPTOMATIC CAN SPREAD OR CAN POTENTIALLY SPREAD THE NOVEL CORONAVIRUS.
IT IS NOT YET CLEAR HOW MUCH OF A ROLE THAT PLAYS IN OUR EPIDEMIC, BUT IF THERE IS QUITE A BIT OF ASYMPTOMATIC SPREAD, THEN MANEUVERS LIKE HAVE ALREADY BEEN RECOMMENDED BY OUR CITY AND OUR COUNTY, LIKE MASKING COULD REALLY DO A LOT TO LOWER THE RISK FOR OUR COMMUNITY.
SO HOW DO WE DO THIS? WE, YOUR HEALTH TRANSITION TEAM WOULD RECOMMEND CAUTIOUS AND DATA-DRIVEN STEPS TOWARDS REOPENING.
MARIE CURIE SAYS THAT SHE WAS TAUGHT THAT THE WAY OF PROGRESS IS NEITHER SWIFT NOR EASY.
AND I THINK THAT HER WORDS PARTICULARLY APPLY TO OUR CURRENT C OVID 19 EPIDEMIC.
WE MUST CONSIDER THOSE WHO ARE MOST AT RISK, THOSE WHO ARE MEDICALLY AT RISK, AND PEOPLE WITHIN OUR MARGINALIZED COMMUNITIES.
AND AS THE MAYOR AND THE JUDGE HAVE BOTH POINTED OUT, WE DO NOT GET THROUGH THIS WITHOUT CARING FOR ONE ANOTHER.
WE MUST LOOK OUT FOR OURSELVES AND LOOK OUT FOR OTHERS BY DOING ALL OF THE STEPS THAT WE CAN TO REDUCE INFECTIONS AND TO REDUCE THE RISK OF COVID TO 19 IN OUR COMMUNITY.
SO I JUST WANNA END BY SAYING THANK YOU.
OUR HEALTH TRANSITION TEAM IS TRULY AN AMAZING GROUP OF INDIVIDUALS.
I WOULD ENCOURAGE YOU TO LOOK AT THE BIOS ON THE, IN THE REPORT AT THE BEGINNING.
LOOK AT EVERYBODY'S PICTURES, GET TO KNOW US.
UH, WE'RE 14 INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE INCREDIBLY HONORED TO HAVE BEEN ASKED TO SERVE OUR COMMUNITY IN THIS WAY.
WE HAVE HAD TWO PHENOMENAL LIAISONS IN THE FORM OF COUNCILWOMAN SANDOVAL AND COMMISSIONER RODRIGUEZ AND A PHENOMENAL LEAD FELLOW, SHARON UTI, WHO WAS ALSO OUR LEAD WRITER.
YOU'LL NOTICE THAT OUR REPORT IS LONG AND WE ARE VERY GRATEFUL FOR HER WORK.
AND A TEAM OF 13 ADVISORS WHO ALL GOT TO WEIGH IN AND WE'RE GRATEFUL FOR THEIR EXPERTISE.
AMANDA RENA, WHO HAS PROVIDED ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT IN A PHENOMENAL FASHION THROUGH THIS WHOLE PROCESS, IT'S BEEN INCREDIBLE AS, UH, HAS BEEN.
ERIN NICHOLS, OUR COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR.
FINALLY, I WANNA THANK YOU ALL, JUDGE WOLF, MAYOR NURENBERG, SAN ANTONIO CITY COUNCIL, BEXAR COUNTY COMMISSIONER'S COURT FOR ENTRUSTING US WITH THIS RESPONSIBILITY.
WE ARE DEEPLY HONORED AND I WANNA THANK AND WISH GOOD LUCK TO THE ECONOMIC TRANSITION TEAM.
WE LOOK FORWARD TO WORKING WITH YOU IN THE DAYS AHEAD.
TAYLOR AS A WONDERFUL PRESENTATION.
UM, AND, UH, WE ALSO DO LOOK FORWARD TO THE DELIBERATIONS THAT YOU'LL BE HAVING, UH, WITH THE ECONOMIC TRANSITION TEAM AND THEIR REPORTS OUT TO THE CITY COUNCIL ON THE COURT NEXT WEEK.
UM, WE'RE GONNA MOVE NOW INTO, UH, OUR DISCUSSION.
AND JUST AS A REMINDER, WE'RE GONNA GO, UH, ROUND ROBIN, UH, SEVEN MINUTES EACH.
[00:55:01]
AND SO WE CAN GET THROUGH A A, A FULL DISCUSSION.UM, I DO HAVE A NOTE THAT COUNCIL MEMBER GONZALEZ IS, UH, UNDER SOME TIME PRESSURE.
SO WE'RE GONNA TAKE HER FIRST, BUT THEN WE'LL MOVE TO COUNCIL DISTRICT ONE FOLLOWED BY PRECINCT ONE, UH, THEN COUNCIL DISTRICT TWO, FOLLOWED BY PRECINCT TWO, AND SO ON DOWN THE LINE.
SO, UH, WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, I'M GONNA TURN IT OVER NOW TO COUNCIL MEMBER RU GONZALEZ.
UM, BARBARA, THAT WAS AN INCREDIBLE PRESENTATION, SO, UM, THANK YOU FOR THAT.
IT WAS, UH, REALLY INFORMATIVE AND I THINK THAT, YOU KNOW, THAT PEOPLE WILL UNDERSTAND.
UM, SO I, I'LL JUST, UH, I, I'LL GET TO SO MANY QUESTIONS, BUT I, I'LL STICK TO THE ONES THAT I, I, I THINK ARE PRIORITY FOR ME.
YOU MENTIONED IN YOUR OPENING STATEMENTS ABOUT EQUITY, UM, THAT WAS TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION, BUT I DIDN'T NECESSARILY SEE THAT IN SOME OF YOUR PHASE IN APPROACHES.
COULD YOU ELABORATE ON THAT? I MEAN, I SAW IT IN THE, IN THE WAYS THAT WE CAN MITIGATE FOR FU FUTURE PHASES, BUT IN THE EARLY PHASES, I DON'T NECESSARILY SEE THE EQUITY IN THAT.
THANK YOU COUNCILWOMAN GONZALEZ FOR YOUR QUESTION.
I THINK ONE OF THE THINGS, AND WE PERHAPS SHOULD HAVE DONE A BETTER JOB OF MAKING THIS VERY CLEAR THROUGHOUT THE REPORT, IS THAT THE STRATEGIES THAT WE ARE RECOMMENDING AND THAT, UH, METRO HEALTH AND UNIFIED COMMAND ARE ALREADY PURSUING TO TRY TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO DO THINGS LIKE CHANGE THE ACCESSIBILITY OF TESTING IN OUR COMMUNITY ARE ALL QUITE EQUITY DRIVEN.
SO IF WE THINK ABOUT TESTING, THERE IS INEQUITY CURRENTLY IN TESTING IN OUR COMMUNITY.
THERE ARE SOME AREAS OF THE CITY AND SOME PEOPLE WHO DO NOT HAVE AS MUCH ACCESS TO TESTING AS OTHER AREAS.
AND SO WE, WELL, YOU KNOW WHAT, THAT PART I GOT, OKAY, UH, BUT WHAT I DIDN'T, UH, GET QUITE GET WAS THE, UM, HOW THE, UH, SHELTERING IN PLACE THAT WE KNOW IMPACTS MARGINAL COMMUNITIES, THAT WE DO HAVE OFTENTIMES MULTI-GENERATIONAL FAMILIES LIVING TOGETHER, UH, HOW WE CAN RECOMMEND SORT OF SAFE IN APPROACHES GIVEN THAT SITUATION.
UM, SO I, I, I, I'M, I, I, I FEEL, I I, I UNDER, I GUESS THAT'S WHAT IT, IT SEEMS TO ME THAT THAT, YOU KNOW, WHILE YOU OPENED YOUR, YOUR PRESENTATION WITH EQUITY BEING A PRIORITY, I DIDN'T NECESSARILY SEE THAT THROUGHOUT.
SO, UM, I, I, I UNDERSTAND THAT THE NEED FOR TESTING, UM, ADDITIONAL TESTING AND, AND SO LET ME JUST JUMP TO THAT, UH, COMMENT BEFORE I GET INTO THE OTHER QUESTIONS I HAD REGARDING EQUITY.
BUT, UM, THE TE YOU MENTIONED THAT, THAT THERE'S NOT ENOUGH EQUITY IN TESTING.
WE KNOW THAT THERE IS, BUT DO YOU CURRENTLY HAVE CAPACITY FOR ADDITIONAL TESTING? BECAUSE IT SEEMS LIKE, AS I'VE BEEN KEEPING TRACK OVER THE DAYS, THE LARGEST NUMBER OF TESTS I'D EVER SEEN WAS LIKE 330 IN ONE DAY.
SO DID WE EVER HAVE A LOT MORE THAN THAT? UM, AND DO WE CURRENTLY HAVE THE CAPACITY TO TEST 1600 PEOPLE? SO MY UNDERSTANDING FROM BOTH MY ROLE ON THE TESTING TASK FORCE AND UM, AND FROM INFORMATION FROM METRO HEALTH IS THAT OUR CURRENT CAPACITY IS NOW HOVERING AROUND 1600.
THAT INCLUDES THIS WEEK EXPANSION OF TESTING TO TEXAS MED CLINIC AND WALMART.
SO I THINK OUR CAPACITY IS DEFINITELY GOING UP.
I CAN SPEAK WITH THE LENS OF UNIVERSITY HEALTH SYSTEM THAT AS, UM, UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL IS REOPENING FOR SURGERIES AND FOR NON-ELECTIVE SURGERIES, WE HAVE THE CAPACITY TO TEST, UM, FOLKS WHO ARE COMING IN FOR SURGERY.
SO I THINK THIS, THIS WEEK REALLY REPRESENTS A STEP FORWARD IN TERMS OF CAPACITY FOR TESTING.
THE GUIDANCE RECOGNIZES THAT IS NOT YET ENOUGH, AND THAT WE NEED TO MOVE FORWARD TO CONTINUE ALL THE PUBLIC-PRIVATE COLLABORATIONS.
I KNOW THAT THE LAB AT UNIVERSITY HEALTH SYSTEM IS WORKING VERY HARD TO CREATE HIGH VOLUME CAPACITY, AND THAT ACTUALLY SHOULD COME ONLINE SOON.
SO I DON'T, I THINK SPEAKING FOR THE TEAM, WE DON'T BELIEVE THAT 3000 TESTS PER DAY IS AN UNREALISTIC NUMBER.
I THOUGH I DEFINITELY ACKNOWLEDGE IT IS NOT WHAT WE HAVE SEEN SO FAR, UM, TO GO BACK.
SO I APOLOGIZE, DON'T I MISUNDERSTOOD.
LEMME TRY TO GIVE YOU ANOTHER EXAMPLE THAT, WELL, I JUST FELT LIKE I DIDN'T SEE THIS IN THE PRESENTATION, AND I MENTIONED THIS TO COUNCILMAN SANDOVAL AS THE LIAISON.
UH, I'M VERY CONCERNED ABOUT OTHER INDICATORS ABOUT HOW WE OPEN UP, UH, BEYOND SORT OF WHAT YOU PRESENTED HERE, BUT
[01:00:01]
WE, YOU DIDN'T MENTION ANYTHING ABOUT DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AS A REASON TO OPEN SOONER.WE DIDN'T MENTION ANYTHING ABOUT EXTREME WEATHER TO PERHAPS OPEN SOONER.
AND WERE THOSE CONSIDER, UH, THINGS TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION WHEN YOU MAKE YOUR FACE, UH, RECOMMENDATION THAT WE CAN, YOU KNOW, START, UH, UM, UH, SOCIALIZING OR LEAVING HOME? SO UNDER, I, I FELT LIKE, AND, AND, AND I, I'M, I UNDERSTAND THIS IS, IS IT'S NEW TO ALL OF US, BUT I ALWAYS FELT THAT THIS STAY HOME, STAY SAFE, UM, POLICY OR, UH, ENFORCEMENT, UM, WAS IN ITSELF INEQUITABLE.
KNOWING THAT WE HAVE THESE INCREDIBLE PRESSURES AND MAINTAINING THAT FOR ANY LONGER THAN NECESSARY, UM, IS ACTUALLY INCREDIBLY DAMAGING FOR A COMMUNITY LIKE OURS WITH SUCH HIGH RATES OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND WITH PEOPLE THAT HAVE EXTREME, UM, WHEN THIS, THE SUMMER COMES AND WE HAVE EXTREME HEAT THAT PEOPLE THAT CAN'T HAVE A PLACE TO GO WILL BE REALLY IN DANGER.
SO MAYBE THAT WAS WHERE I WAS KIND OF LOOKING FOR MORE INFORMATION REGARDING, UH, HOW WE CONTINUE TO SOCIALIZE OR, OR, UM, RE REMOVE THE STAY HOME ORDER.
SO THOSE ARE ALL THINGS THAT WE TALKED ABOUT, AND WE, UM, DEFINITELY TOOK INTO CONSIDERATION YOUR PRIOR COMMENTS.
I THINK THAT WHEN WE TALK ABOUT THE BURDEN OF THE STAY AT HOME ORDER, IT IS NOT JUST AN ECONOMIC BURDEN, RIGHT? RIGHT.
WE RECOGNIZE THAT IT IS A BURDEN ON OUR COMMUNITY AND DISPROPORTIONATELY ON OUR LOW INCOME COMMUNITIES BECAUSE OF THESE THINGS.
IF YOU THINK ABOUT, SO THERE'S THE ISSUES WITH DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.
THERE'S ISSUES WITH MENTAL WELLNESS, WHICH WE MENTIONED IN THE REPORT.
THERE ARE ISSUES WITH EDUCATION.
YOU KNOW, BOTH MY KIDS GO TO SAN ANTONIO INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT.
AND THE ABILITY FOR A SCHOOL DISTRICT LIKE S A I S D TO SUCCESSFULLY HAVE EDUCATION HAPPEN AT HOME, FOR MANY FOLKS IN A CITY WHERE WE HAVE AN EXTREME DIGITAL DIVIDE IS VERY DIFFICULT.
SO WE DEFINITELY RECOGNIZE THAT, AND THAT IS WHY WE REALLY WANTED TO MAKE AS CLEAR RECOMMENDATION FOUND, RECOMMEND THE FOUNDING OF A HEALTH EQUITY TASK FORCE, AND TRY TO MOVE FORWARD WITH THE LENS OF LOOKING OUT FOR THE FOLKS WHO ARE LIKELY TO BE ALREADY BEING MOST HARMED BY OUR CURRENT PHASE ONE STATUS.
WE'LL MOVE NOW TO COUNCIL MEMBER, UH, TREVINO.
BEFORE YOU BEGIN, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER TREVINO, UH, ONE QUICK NOTE FOR EVERYBODY.
DON'T FORGET, UH, WE DO HAVE CITY STAFF HERE AS WELL, AND, UH, ANYBODY WHO IS MAKING PRESENTATIONS IS AVAILABLE TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS.
UH, REALLY TREMENDOUS WORK, UH, UH, WITH, UH, WITH YOUR COMMITTEE AND YOUR GROUP.
UH, I REALLY APPRECIATE THE, THE, THE THOUGHTFUL, UM, SEMBLANCE OF STRATEGIES AND ESPECIALLY WITH REGARDS TO HOW YOU DESCRIBE THE RISK OF TRANSMISSION, UH, AS CONTACT INTENSITY, DENSITY OF CONTACT, AND MODIFICATION OF POTENTIAL.
UM, I WANNA POINT SOMETHING OUT THAT IT IS ALSO JUST AS, AS AS CRITICAL AND IMPORTANT, AND YOU LAID IT OUT IN YOUR PRESENTATION.
UH, YESTERDAY, 50 TENANTS AT THE ALMOST CLUB APARTMENTS CAME HOME TO SEE THEIR, UH, DOORS LOCKED OR, OR THEY WERE LOCKED OUT OF THEIR, THEIR, UH, THEIR HOMES OR THEIR APARTMENTS.
AND, UH, YOU KNOW, IT'S, IT'S A, I GUESS IT'S A LOOPHOLE IN, IN THE PROCESS OF EVICTION, WHICH IS, IT'S NOT QUITE AN EVICTION, UH, AND IT DOESN'T FALL UNDER THE, THE MORATORIUM OF EVICTIONS.
UH, BUT YOU KNOW, IN MANY WAYS THIS IS KINDA WHAT WE FOUND, UH, THAT, THAT, YOU KNOW, THEIR STRATEGIES TO, TO SOMEHOW GET, GET PEOPLE TO GET FRUSTRATED ENOUGH THAT THEY WOULD JUST GIVE UP AND LEAVE ON THEIR OWN.
AND, AND, AND A AND A LANDLORD DOESN'T HAVE TO GO THROUGH A FULL EVICTION.
UM, YOU KNOW, MY HOPE IS THAT WE CAN, WE CAN FIND A WAY, UH, TO, TO HELP, UH, EDUCATE PEOPLE INCLUDING, UH, LANDLORDS ABOUT, UH, THE, THE KINDS OF HELP THAT, THAT WE'RE TRYING TO COORDINATE THROUGHOUT OUR COMMUNITY.
LAST WEEK WE VOTED IN THE RISK MITIGATION FUND AT $25 MILLION, WHICH I BELIEVE WILL ADDRESS, UH, ISSUES LIKE THIS ONE, UH, MORE, MORE, UH, ROBUSTLY.
UM, BUT I'D LIKE TO HEAR FROM YOU, UH, BECAUSE
[01:05:01]
IT REALLY CAME DOWN TO LITERALLY THE PHASE ONE STAY HOME WORK SAFE, IN YOUR OPINION, THE FACT THAT THAT PEOPLE COULD POTENTIALLY STILL BE KICKED OUT ONTO THE STREET, AWAY FROM THEIR HOME, AWAY FROM THAT, UH, STABLE ENVIRONMENT, UH, TELL US HOW THAT, UH, DOES NOT FOLLOW, UH, SOME OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS AND CAN PRESENT A HEALTH, UH, UH, HAZARD FOR OUR COMMUNITY AND FOR, FOR THOSE PEOPLE GOING THROUGH THAT, WITH THAT ADDED STRESS.THANK YOU SO MUCH, COUNCILMAN TURINO.
I THINK THAT'S, THAT IS VERY IMPORTANT.
SO, AND I WAS REALLY HAPPY TO HEAR, UH, THE JUDGE MENTION THAT THE, UM, I FORGET WHAT IT'S OFFICIALLY CALLED, BUT BASICALLY THE, THE STAY OF EVICTION ORDER WILL CONTINUE.
AND I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT LOOPHOLES IN IT.
THAT'S OBVIOUSLY NOT MY EXPERTISE, BUT I WOULD CERTAINLY ENCOURAGE THAT THOSE BE CLOSED.
SPEAKING AS A PROVIDER, I CAN TELL YOU THAT I HAVE, UM, ON THE COVID TO 19 SERVICE AT UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL, WE ARE DOING FOLLOW UP FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN DISCHARGED AND ARE DOING WELL WITH COVID TO 19.
AND SOMETIMES THOSE INDIVIDUALS ARE HOMELESS.
SO IF YOU THINK, OR HOUSELESS, UM, IF YOU THINK ABOUT THE CHALLENGES THAT SOMEONE WHO DOESN'T HAVE A HOME HAS UNDER A STAY AT HOME ORDER, IT ONLY BECOMES OBVIOUS HOW, HOW IRONIC THAT IS.
AND I THINK SHELTERS IN SAN ANTONIO LIKE HAVEN FOR HOPE HAS BEEN TRYING INCREDIBLY DILIGENTLY UNDER DIFFICULT CONDITIONS TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY STILL CAN HOLD THE NEEDS OF THAT COMMUNITY IN PLACE UNDER THESE CIRCUMSTANCES.
I KNOW THAT AT LEAST IN THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE, THE PATIENTS WHO I HAVE CARED FOR, THEY'VE BEEN ABLE TO GET TEMPORARY HOUSING IN A SPECIFIC PLACE SO THAT THEY CAN BE AT LEAST SAFE DURING THEIR RECOVERY PERIOD, SO THAT NOT ONLY DO THEY STAND A BETTER CHANCE AT RECOVERY, BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT THINGS LIKE NUTRITION AND REST AND SAFETY AFFECT YOUR HEALTH, BUT ALSO TO PROTECT THE COMMUNITY.
AND SO I THINK I WOULD AGREE, AND I THINK CONSIDERATIONS OF THINGS LIKE THAT, GOING BACK TO COUNCILWOMAN GONZALEZ IS, UM, IF WE ARE THINKING ABOUT THIS FROM THE LENS OF EQUITY, WE HAVE TO THINK WHO, IF WE'RE TELLING PEOPLE TO STAY AT HOME, WHO DOESN'T EVEN HAVE THAT OPTION? AND HOW DO WE FIRST RESPOND TO THOSE FOLKS? THANK YOU.
I, YOU KNOW, THIS IS, UH, SUCH AN IMPORTANT, UH, SUBJECT AND, UH, YOU KNOW, AGAIN, YOUR, YOUR, YOUR REPORT, I THINK HELPS TO HIGHLIGHT, YOU KNOW, THAT IT IS, IT'S, IT'S, IT'S REALLY STARTS BY, BY HELPING TO, UH, KEEP PEOPLE, UH, AT HOME AND, AND AWAY FROM THESE, THESE RISKS THAT ARE OUT THERE.
UH, WE, WE HAD A CONVERSATION JUST BEFORE THIS MEETING TALKING ABOUT, UH, UH, YOU KNOW, WE REALLY GOTTA LOOK AT THIS AS FINDING A WAY TO KEEP PEOPLE IN THEIR HOMES.
AND, YOU KNOW, THAT'S REALLY THE BIGGEST ISSUE WE HAVE, IS THAT THERE'S, THERE'S ALWAYS GONNA BE SOME KIND OF A LOOPHOLE THAT PEOPLE FIND TO TRY TO, UH, GET, GET PEOPLE OUT OF THEIR, THEIR, THEIR, UH, THEIR APARTMENT OR, OR HOME.
UH, I ALSO WANT TO THANK THE JUDGE FOR ADDRESSING THE ISSUES OF EVICTIONS IN OUR, IN OUR, IN OUR CITY.
LASTLY, I I JUST WANNA POINT OUT THAT WE'VE NOT HEARD BACK, UH, AND, AND I, AND I'M VERY WORRIED THAT, UH, NOT THE, THE GOVERNOR NOT ADDRESSING THE ISSUE OF, OF PROPERTY APPRAISALS IN THE STATE OF TEXAS FOR THIS YEAR ARE, ARE GONNA CREATE ANOTHER, UH, INS FORM OF INSTABILITY IN HOUSING BECAUSE OF, UH, SIMILARLY, THE, THE, THE PRESSURES THAT COME WITH, UH, THOSE APPRAISALS, UH, AND RENTAL PROPERTIES THAT HAVE NO PROTECTIONS WHATSOEVER WHEN IT COMES TO PROPERTY APPRAISALS THROUGHOUT THE STATE OF TEXAS.
UH, SO AGAIN, I'LL JUST ASK, UH, THE MAYOR AND THE JUDGE, UH, TO CONTINUALLY KEEP PUSHING THE GOVERNOR.
UH, I'LL KEEP WORKING WITH MY, MY COLLEAGUES, UH, TO TRY TO HIGHLIGHT, UH, THOSE TWO SPECIFIC ITEMS THAT I THINK ARE GONNA, UH, REALLY, UH, HELP, UH, AT LEAST SOMEWHAT, UH, TO HELP STABILIZE HOUSING, UH, DURING THIS EMERGENCY AND CRISIS.
UH, VERY, VERY THOUGHTFUL AND I WILL BE VERY SUPPORTIVE OF YOUR RECOMMENDATIONS.
UH, COUNCIL MEMBER VINNO, WE'RE GONNA MOVE NOW TO, UH, PRECINCT ONE, COMMISSIONER CHICO RODRIGUEZ.
CAN YOU HEAR ME LOUD AND CLEAR? OKAY, GOOD.
AND MAYOR, I REALLY WANNA THANK Y'ALL BOTH FOR WHAT Y'ALL BEEN DOING.
I THINK AT, AT THE RATE WE WERE GOING, JUDGE, I KNOW THAT WE WERE TALKING ABOUT MORE AND MORE PEOPLE GETTING ILL AND, AND HAVING THIS, BUT I REALLY WANNA
[01:10:01]
SAY THAT YOU GUYS REALLY FLATTENED THE CURVE, UH, BOTH YOU AND THE MAYOR, UH, AND LETTING, ESPECIALLY ALL THESE MEETINGS THAT Y'ALL HOLDING EVERY DAY.UH, I ALSO WANNA SAY THAT JUST TODAY, JUDGE, UH, AND MAYOR, I WAS AT ACADEMY, UH, TRYING TO GET, UH, ONE OF THESE LITTLE CAMOUFLAGE THINGS TO KIND OF COVER MY, MY NOSE AND, AND AND MOUTH.
AND IT WAS VERY INTERESTING JUST TO HEAR, UH, ONE OF THE WORKERS THAT WAS THERE, A YOUNG GIRL ACTUALLY TURNING SOME CONSTRUCTION PEOPLE AND TELLING THEM THAT THEY COULD NOT COME IN, UH, BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T HAVE MASKS ON.
AND ONE OF THE, ONE OF THE GUYS THAT WAS SAYING, WELL, I CAN USE MY T-SHIRT, HE TRIED TO PUT HIS T-SHIRT OVER HIS MOUTH AND, AND SHE WAS VERY ADAMANT ABOUT SAYING, YOU CANNOT COME IN.
SO I REALLY WANNA THANK YOU BOTH, EVEN THOUGH THE GOVERNOR HAS, HAS MADE IT HIS POINT OF VIEW.
BUT I REALLY WANNA THANK THE MAYOR AND I, AND NOT ONLY THAT INCIDENT JUDGE, BUT YESTERDAY, UH, AND MAYOR AGAIN, I WANNA SAY, UH, THAT ALL OF OUR ESSENTIAL EMPLOYEES, INCLUDING, YOU KNOW, THE PEOPLE WHO ARE PICKING UP OUR TRASH AND, AND OUR MAIL CARRIERS, I MEAN, WE REALLY NEED TO CONSIDER ALL THAT.
THEY'VE REALLY STEPPED UP ALL THE OTHER ESSENTIAL EMPLOYEES.
TAYLOR, I GUESS ONE THING I WANNA SAY IS, WE TALKED ABOUT CONTACT TRACING AND YOU MENTIONED 175 OF THEM.
WHEN YOU LOOK AT A POPULATION OF 2 MILLION PEOPLE, HOW ARE YOU GONNA DIVIDE THAT UP? OR ARE YOU LOOKING AT JUST THE PEOPLE THAT ARE SICK, UH, AND WHAT IS IT THAT'S GONNA FLIP THE SWITCH TO GET US BACK, UH, INTO WHERE WE WERE AT? IF IT INCREASES? IS THERE ONE ON AND OFF SWITCH? IS IT THE CONTACT TRACING AND, OR IS IT OTHER? CAN YOU TOUCH BASE? MAYBE THERE'S TWO OTHER ONES THAT'S GONNA, I'M NOT, I'M JUST TRYING TO BE ON, ON THE SIDE OF BEING CAUTIOUS.
UH, YOU KNOW, ONE OF MY DAUGHTERS WORKS AT BMS C AND, UH, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE COMFORTABLE NOW BMS C'S DOING A PHENOMENAL JOB, BUT THEY'RE ALSO TIRED.
BUT I WANNA ASK YOU ABOUT THAT CONTACT TRACING.
AND YOU, YOU MENTIONED AGAIN, THE 175, HOW DO YOU DIVIDE THAT? CAN YOU HEAR ME? THANK YOU, COMMISSIONER RODRIGUEZ.
UM, SO WITH SPECIFIC REGARD TO CONTACT TRACING, THE 175 NUMBER ACTUALLY COMES FROM A POPULATION BASED CALCULATION THAT IS ALIGNED WITH SEVERAL DIFFERENT, UM, METRICS, INCLUDING ONE THAT'S RECOMMENDED BY THE, UM, THE HARVARD, SORRY, I'M TRYING TO FIND IT RIGHT NOW, BUT MY THINGS ARE OUT OF ORDER.
THE HARVARD INSTITUTE FOR GLOBAL HEALTH AND OUR LOCAL RECOMMENDATIONS.
SO METRO HEALTH IS REALLY DOING AN ASSESSMENT OF HOW MANY TRACERS THEY THINK THEY NEED.
I THINK IT'S ESSENTIAL TO THINK, AS I SHOWED IN THAT PROCESS OF TESTING AND TRACING AS INTERWOVEN, AND THAT GOES ALONG WITH ISOLATION.
SO BACK TO COMMISSIONER, UH, BACK TO COUNCIL, WOMEN'S GONZALEZ'S RECOMMENDATION.
IF SOMEONE IS RECOMMENDED IN TO BE IN ISOLATION, AND THEY LIVE IN A MULTI-GENERATIONAL FAMILY WHERE THERE IS AN ELDERLY PERSON AT HOME, THEN WE HAVE TO PROVIDE A SAFE WAY FOR THEM TO ISOLATE EVEN UNDER CONDITIONS WHERE THAT MIGHT BE DIFFICULT, WHICH MAY MEAN ISOLATING OUTSIDE OF THE HOME SOMEPLACE.
I THINK THAT CONTACT TRACING IS, HAS TO BE, AND THIS IS SOMETHING THAT THE ENTIRE TEAM AGREES ON, REALLY RESPONSIVE TO WHERE THE TESTING IS.
SO WE NEED TO BE ABLE TO DO THINGS LIKE TEST IN JAIL, RIGHT? SO THAT'S UNDERWAY RIGHT NOW, Y'ALL, THE COUNTY IS DOING AN AMAZING JOB OF THAT.
IT IS DEFINITELY A HIGH RISK ENVIRONMENT, BUT IF YOU THINK ABOUT CONTACT TRACING, YOU NEED TO RAMP UP TESTING FOR THE FOLKS WHO ARE IN JAIL, BUT YOU ALSO HAVE TO CONSIDER EVERYONE WHO WORKS IN THE JAIL, AND THEN EVERYBODY WHO'S LEFT THE JAIL RECENTLY.
SO WE HAVE 175 AS A POPULATION BASED NUMBER, BUT THERE MAY BE, THEN WE ALSO INCLUDE THE STATEMENT THAT WE'LL NEED TO SURGE UNDER CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES.
YOU KNOW, THE SAME THING HAPPENED WITH THE OUTBREAK AT THE NURSING HOME.
SO THERE'S A NEED TO SURGE AND TARGET WHAT YOU SAID ABOUT THE WARNINGS.
IF, YOU KNOW, THE THREE WARNING INDICATORS THAT WE PROPOSED THAT WOULD SHOW US THAT WE MIGHT BE GETTING INTO TROUBLE ARE A PIECE OF THAT.
BUT UNIFIED COMMAND AND METRO HEALTH AND STRAC ARE ACTUALLY LOOKING AT AN ENTIRE DASHBOARD OF WARMINGS, INCLUDE A LOT OF DIFFERENT THINGS THAT I DIDN'T JUST TALK ABOUT.
AND I'M SURE THEY CAN TALK ABOUT IT VERY ARTICULATELY.
BUT IN ADDITION TO THAT, WE HAVE TO PAY ATTENTION.
AND THIS IS WHY HAVING ADEQUATE TESTING THROUGHOUT OUR COMMUNITY IS REALLY IMPORTANT.
WE HAVE TO PAY ATTENTION TO WHERE SYMPTOMS,
[01:15:01]
WHERE FOLKS ARE SHOWING UP WITH SYMPTOMS. PEOPLE HAVE TO KNOW WHAT THE SYMPTOMS ARE AND KNOW THAT THEY CAN GET TESTING.AND A LOT OF TIMES, AND SOMETHING WE, WE SORT OF CALL FOR IS SPECIFIC COMMUNITY OUTREACH, WHERE WE'RE ACTUALLY PROACTIVELY GOING OUT INTO A COMMUNITY NOW IN MANY COMMUNITIES, WE HAVE TO DO THAT VERY CAREFULLY AND RESPECTFULLY AND IN THE RIGHT WAY BECAUSE SOMEBODY COMING INTO YOUR COMMUNITY TO TEST CAN BE A VERY INTIMIDATING AND NOT WELL RECEIVED THING IF DONE, UH, IN CAUTIOUSLY.
SO WE WANNA REALLY, WE PROPOSE A VERY COMMUNITY ENGAGED APPROACH TO GET BOTH TESTING AND TRACING OUT INTO AREAS WHERE IT'S NOT CURRENTLY REACHING AND WHERE IT'S NEEDED.
I KNOW WE HAVE A LOT OF QUESTIONS AND I, I KNOW I HAVE ANOTHER ONE.
AND, AND I GUESS I'M LOOKING FOR THE URBAN, UH, COMMUNITY OR THE NON-URBAN COMMUNITY, BECAUSE, BUT WE CAN, WE CAN TALK, I KNOW THE MAYOR TELL ME THAT I'M LOOKING AT MY TIME, SO I'M GONNA, I'M GONNA LET MY TIME GO TO SOMEBODY ELSE.
THANK YOU FOR ALL THE GOOD WORK.
THANK YOU, UH, COMMISSIONER RODRIGUEZ.
AND, AND, UM, AGAIN, UH, WE HAVE A LOT OF TIME SO WE CAN MOVE THROUGH, BUT IF YOU HAVE A QUESTION, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO ASK IT AND, AND, UH, WE CAN MAKE SURE IT'S ANSWERED.
UM, AND SO WE'LL MOVE NOW TO COUNCIL MEMBER, UH, ANDREW SULLIVAN, DISTRICT TWO, THANK MAYOR.
THANK YOU TO ANDY, CITY MANAGER.
TAYLOR FOR ALL OF YOUR INFORMATION AND FOR, UH, GIVING US AN UPDATE ON THE BRIEFING AND HELPING US UNDERSTAND, UH, THE OUTLINE THAT THE TEAM HAS PUT TOGETHER.
SO THANK YOU SO MUCH, AND THANK YOU COUNCILWOMAN SANDOVAL FOR INCLUDING US IN THE CONVERSATION.
UM, THE QUESTIONS THAT I HAVE, DR.
EMRICH, IF YOU WOULD ABLE TO ANSWER, UM, WHEN IT COMES TO THE CON OR THE TRACING, THE CONTRACT, UH, CONTACT TRACING AND, AND THOSE THAT ARE POSITIVE, IS A COMMUNICATIONS GAP OR NO WAY TO REACH, REACH OUT TO THOSE INDIVIDUALS.
HOW ARE WE MAKING THAT, THAT CONTACT? CAN YOU HEAR ME? YES, MA'AM.
UM, SO OUR, UM, WHEN WE HAVE A POSITIVE THAT COMES INTO, OR COME, YOU KNOW, COMES FROM THE LAB, WE HAVE CONTACT INFORMATION FROM THE LAB OR THE PROVIDER.
SO WE'RE ABLE TO CONNECT WITH THAT PERSON, UM, WHO HAS A POSITIVE RESULT.
ONCE WE DO OUR CONTACT INVESTIGATION WITH THAT PERSON, UM, WE'RE ABLE TO THEN, UM, GET FROM THEM WHO THEIR CLOSE CONTACTS WERE.
UM, MOST OF THE TIME WHAT WE'RE SEEING, ESPECIALLY NOW THROUGH COMMUNITY TRANSMISSION, THOSE, UM, POSITIVES, UM, KNOW WHO THOSE CLOSE CONTACTS ARE AND HAVE BEEN ABLE TO GIVE US THEIR INFORMATION, THEIR CONTACT NAMES, AND THEIR PHONE NUMBER.
SO THE FIRST INITIAL, UM, CONNECTION TO THOSE CLOSE CONTACTS AND THE CONTACT TRACING IS BY PHONE.
IF THAT DOESN'T WORK, MOST OF THE TIME, WE WILL HAVE ADDRESSES AND WE'LL USE OUR PARTNERSHIP WITH M I H TO THEN GO IN, UM, AND DO A HOME VISIT.
BEING VERY CAREFUL, OF COURSE, UM, USING, UM, APPROPRIATE HOME VISITATION STRATEGIES AND ALSO JUST FROM P P E AND THAT KIND OF THING, BUT BEING VERY CAREFUL WITH THAT.
SO IT'S PHONE CALLS AND THEN OUTREACH TO, UM, TO THE HOME IF, IF WE NEED TO.
AND MOST OF OUR FOLLOW UP IS PRETTY STRONG, UM, WITH THAT.
AND WHILE I HAVE YOU ON THE LINE, DR.
EMRICH, WHEN IT COMES TO, UM, INDICATORS AND WE'RE LOOKING AT WHERE WE'RE GOING AND, AND, UH, WITH THE CURVE, ARE WE TAKING INTO ACCOUNT THOSE THAT MAY HAVE TESTED POSITIVE BEFORE RECOVER, BUT ARE NOW TESTING POSITIVE? AGAIN, IS THAT INCLUDED IN, UH, THE, UH, RECOVERY CONVERSATION? SO LEMME MAKE SURE, I THINK I UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU'RE SAYING IS THOSE THAT HAVE TESTED POSITIVE AND THEN ARE RECOVERED, BUT THEN TESTED POSITIVE AGAIN? IS THAT WHAT YOU MENTIONED? YEAH, SO IF THAT IS INDEED THE CASE, UM, WE HAVE NOT HAD ANY OF THAT, UM, TO OUR KNOWLEDGE.
BUT IF THAT IS INDEED THE CASE, THEY WILL THEN JUST COME BACK INTO OUR CONTACT TRACING, UM, SITUATION AGAIN.
SO, YOU KNOW, FOR EVERY, IF, FOR EVERY POSITIVE THAT IS IDENTIFIED, THAT IS A REPORTABLE DISEASE.
SO WE ARE REPORTABLE RESULT, SO WE WOULD GET THEM BACK INTO OUR
[01:20:01]
CONTACT TRACING SYSTEM AGAIN.AND THEN MY LAST QUESTION FOR YOU, DR, IS, AS FAR AS WHEN IT COMES TO THOSE THAT ARE RECEIVING, UM, CANCER TREATMENT OR DIALYSIS, UM, ARE THE CENTERS BEING SCREENED? ARE THE THE CLIENTS BEING SCREENED AS THEY GO INTO THE CENTERS? AND, UM, HAVE WE HAD ANY CONTACT WITH THOSE CENTERS? YES, WE ACTUALLY, WE HAVE.
AND SO, UM, SOME OF OUR, OUR, UH, DIALYSIS, THEY ARE ACTUALLY SCHEDULING THOSE, UM, FOLKS THAT MIGHT BE POSITIVE.
THOSE THAT, THAT ARE CONFIRMED POSITIVE THAT STILL NEED DIALYSIS, THEY'RE ACTUALLY BEING SCHEDULED TOWARD THE END OF THE DAY FOR THEIR DIALYSIS SO THAT WHEN THEY'RE DONE, STAFF CAN ACTUALLY GO AND DECONTAMINATE THE CLINICS AND CLEAN THEM, UM, TO PREPARE THEM FOR THE NEXT DAY.
SO ALL OF THOSE, UM, THOSE PRECAUTIONS HAVE BEEN PUT IN PLACE AND THEY'RE BEING EDUCATED.
UM, I CAN ALSO TELL YOU THAT IN OUR SCALING UP OF OUR TESTING PLAN THAT, UM, DR.
TAYLOR MENTIONED, WE DO HAVE SPECIAL TARGETED, UM, E S R D, UM, CLIENTS BECAUSE OF THAT ASSOCIATION WITH DIABETES AND RENAL DISEASE.
SO THEY ARE ONE OF OUR, UM, PRIORITY AREAS FOR UNIVERSAL TESTING.
TAYLOR, WHEN IT COMES TO THE ADVISORS AND, AND THE PUBLIC HEALTH TEAM, WE DO HAVE A REPRESENTATIVE THAT IS WORKING DIRECTLY TO HELP US NOT HAVE ANOTHER NURSING HOME INCIDENT NURSING OR WORKING TO HELP US FIND WAYS THAT WE CAN LOOK AT DIFFERENT INDICATORS WHEN IT COMES TO OUR NURSING HOMES.
SO DO WE HAVE A SPECIFIC REPRESENTATIVE FROM NURSING HOMES? IS THAT YOUR QUESTION? SORRY.
SO NO, BUT WE ACTUALLY HAVE TWO MEMBERS OF THE TEAM WHO'VE BEEN ACTIVELY INVOLVED IN THE OUTREACH TO NURSING, TO NURSING HOMES AND SKILLED NURSING FACILITIES.
JUNE DE WU, WHO'S THE MEDICAL DIRECTOR OF METRO HEALTH AND DR.
RUTH BERGEN, WERE BOTH VERY ACTIVE IN THE TEAM THAT BOTH IS ADVISING, UH, WAS HELPFUL IN THE SOUTHEAST NURSING HOME, UM, UH, OUTBREAK, BUT ALSO IN GOING, IN, TAKING SORT OF PROACTIVE ACTION TO GO TO OTHER SKILLED NURSING FACILITIES AND NURSING HOMES, ASSIST THEM, MAKE SURE THEY HAVE ENOUGH PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT AND SORT OF PROCESSES IN PLACE TO HELP REDUCE THE RISK OF FOR, OF ANY NEW INFECTIONS.
AND I THINK I, I WON'T SPEAK FOR THEM, BUT I THINK THAT THEY ARE GENERALLY PLEASED WITH HOW THAT HAS GONE SO FAR.
EMMERICH COULD COMMENT ON THAT.
AND SO TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION, THERE'S NOT A SPECIFIC INDICATOR FOR NURSING HOMES.
HOWEVER, UM, IN OUR NEW SCALE UP STRATEGY, ALL CONGREGATE SETTINGS, JAILS, HOMELESS SHELTERS, UM, NURSING HOMES, ASSISTED ASSISTED LIVING FACILITIES, UM, WILL, WILL GET UNIVERSAL SCREENING AND UNIVERSAL TESTING.
THAT IS A NEW RECOMMENDATION THAT JUST CAME OUT FROM C D C.
AND WE'RE INCORPORATING THAT, UM, INTO OUR PLAN MOVING FORWARD AS WE SCALE UP.
AND I JUST WANNA SAY THANK YOU TO DR.
SO YOU GUYS HAVE A BLESSED ONE.
COUNCIL MEMBER ANDREWS SULLIVAN, MOVE NOW TO PRECINCT TWO COMMISSIONER, UH, ALSO, UH, LIAISON FOR THE COUNTY ON THIS, UH, TRANSITION TEAM, UH, JUSTIN RODRIGUEZ.
AND, UH, AND JUDGE APPRECIATE, UH, THE OPPORTUNITY TO SERVE IN THE, IN THIS CAPACITY.
AND, UM, YOU KNOW, I'LL KEEP MY KUDOS SHORT 'CAUSE I, I KNOW I ONLY HAVE SEVEN MINUTES, BUT I COULD GO ON AND ON FOR AT LEAST, UH, SEVEN MINUTES TO, UM, COMMEND DR.
TAYLOR AND THE TEAM I HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO SPEND, UM, HOURS WITH THEM LAST WEEK, UM, ON, ON, UM, REALLY JUST, UH, EXCHANGING IDEAS AND COMING UP WITH, UH, BEST SOLUTIONS AND, AND, AND ADVICE.
SO I APPRECIATE YOUR WORK ON THIS, DR.
LET ME ASK SPECIFICALLY A COUPLE OF THINGS.
'CAUSE I, I, I THINK WHAT'S CONFUSING, UM, UH, YOU KNOW, CERTAINLY TO THE PUBLIC AND, UM, OUR CONSTITUENTS IS, YOU KNOW, WE'RE, WE'RE KIND OF MOVING ON TWO DIFFERENT TRACKS IN LARGE PART BECAUSE OF, YOU KNOW, THE GOVERNOR'S, UH, ANNOUNCEMENT YESTERDAY.
UM, AND I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT PEOPLE, UM, UNDERSTAND THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE WORK, UH, THE, THE VERY DELIBERATE WORK THAT YOU, YOU AND TEAM ARE DOING.
UM, AND, UH, THE ANNOUNCEMENT THAT SOME OF THE BUSINESSES CAN OPEN ON ON FRIDAY, UM, HAVE WE
[01:25:01]
ESSENTIALLY BEEN IN, IN, AND AGAIN, I'M WORKING ON, ON YOUR REPORT AND, AND YOUR DATA.UM, HA HAVE WE ESSENTIALLY BEEN THRUST INTO PHASE TWO AT THIS POINT OF OUR PLAN STARTING FRIDAY BECAUSE OF SOME OF THE BUSINESSES OPENING? AND I ASKED THAT AS MY FIRST QUESTION BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, YOU AND THE TEAM CAME UP WITH SOME VERY SPECIFIC PROGRESS INDICATORS WERE MAKING THOSE, UM, THOSE, UH, LEAPS, UH, INTO DIFFERENT PHASES.
UH, THE FOUR YOU INCLUDED WERE THE, THE SUSTAINED DECLINE OVER 14, UH, DAYS OF THE, OF THE NEW CASES, UH, THE, THE ABILITY TO PERFORM TESTS, CONTRACT TRACING, AND THEN THE PREPAREDNESS OF, OF THE HEALTHCARE, UH, SYSTEM IN, IN THE, IN THE COMMUNITY.
UM, SO I'M ASSUMING WE DON'T HAVE ALL OF THOSE PRO PROGRESS INDICATORS SET YET, BUT HERE WE ARE JUST A FEW DAYS FROM ESSENTIALLY GOING INTO PHASE TWO.
AM I RIGHT? SO I THINK IT IS, IT IS COMPLICATED BECAUSE THE PHASE, MY UNDERSTANDING AGAIN, OF THE PHASE TWO OF WHAT IS THE, UM, STATE PLAN, PHASE ONE, WHICH IS ESSENTIALLY OUR PHASE TWO, SO SORRY, UM, IS THAT OUR, THEY ARE ALIGNED IN, IN MANY WAYS IN THAT THEY, THEY RECOMMEND SORT OF A GRADUAL REINSTATEMENT IN SOME VENUES, BUT THE VENUES ARE DIFFERENT.
AND FROM MY UNDERSTANDING FROM WHAT, UH, JUDGE WILSON, MAYOR NUREMBERG SAID IS THAT WE, THE, THE STATE PLAN IN SOME WAYS AS FAR AS WHAT'S OPENING, UM, IS TAKES PRECEDENCE OVER OUR GUIDANCE.
HOWEVER, WHAT I, I GUESS WHAT I WOULD SAY IS, AS FAR AS THE INDICATORS GO, AS FAR AS OUR PROGRESS INDICATORS, WE'RE ACTUALLY IN A PRETTY GOOD PLACE.
AND I SAY THAT CAUTIOUSLY BECAUSE, UH, WELL, ONE, BECAUSE I THINK THE, WE AS THE HEALTH TEAM ARE, ARE MEANT TO BE CAUTIOUS.
UM, BUT IF YOU LOOK AT MANY OF THE MODELS THAT WE HAVE BEEN LOOKING AT OVER THE LAST WEEK, OR, YOU KNOW, SOME OF US HAVE BEEN STARING AT THOSE MODELS ACTUALLY SINCE JANUARY, BUT WE, IT DOES LOOK LIKE WE ARE, UM, GOING DOWN IN TERMS OF NUMBER OF CASES.
AND IF YOU LOOK AT THE EPIC CURVE THAT'S ON THE DASHBOARD EVEN OF, OF METROHEALTH, YOU, YOU MIGHT INFER FROM THAT CURVE THAT WE ARE GOING DOWN NOW, I WOULD SAY IF YOU'RE LOOKING AT THE EPIC CURVE RIGHT NOW, UM, THERE IS A, A CASE LAG.
SO DON'T LOOK AT THE CURVE FOR THE MOST RECENT FIVE DAYS, SORT OF CUT IT OFF AND LOOK AT IT BEFORE THAT.
I'M SORRY, I WISH I HAD A, THIS IS WHERE I WISH I HAD A CHALKBOARD.
UM, THE TEACHER IN ME IS COMING OUT, BUT I THINK WE ARE, WE DO HAVE A DECREASE IN THE NUMBER OF CASES.
WOULD EVERYBODY DEFINE IT AS A SUSTAINED DECLINE OVER 14 DAYS? I THINK NOT YET.
BUT AS FAR AS THE OTHER INDICATORS WE'VE TALKED ABOUT TESTING CAPACITY AND CONTACT TRACING, WE'RE NOT YET WHERE WE WANNA BE, BUT WE'RE GETTING A LOT CLOSER.
AND AS FAR AS HEALTH SYSTEM PREPAREDNESS FROM THE GUIDANCE AND THE, THE SORT OF HELP WE'VE RECEIVED FROM STRAC AND METROHEALTH, WE ARE THERE.
BUT I THINK THE REAL THING IS WE HAVE TO KEEP AN EYE ON HOW WE DO.
THIS IS A DYNAMIC PROCESS AND WE HAVE TO KEEP AN EYE ON HOW WE DO GOING FORWARD.
YOU KNOW, OUR HEALTH SYSTEM CURRENTLY IS NOT, DOES NOT APPEAR TO BE UNDER STRESS GENERALLY, BUT DOES THAT SUSTAIN AS WE OPEN UP HOSPITALS AGAIN FOR ELECTIVE SURGERY? LIKE WE'LL HAVE TO KEEP A REAL CLOSE EYE ON THAT, OR AS PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT BEGINS TO BE USED BY MANY FOLKS WHO ARE PUBLIC FACING, WHO ARE DOING PUBLIC FACING WORK, THAT WORK THAT'S NOT HEALTHCARE SYSTEM RELATED.
SO LEMME SO I, I'M NOT SURE IF THAT ANSWERS YOUR QUESTION.
YEAH, NO, NO, NO, NO, THAT'S HELPFUL.
I, I JUST THINK, YOU KNOW, IN TERMS OF, OF, UM, YOU KNOW, THE FOLKS THAT CALL AND ASK YEAH.
UM, BECAUSE OF THE GOVERNOR'S ANNOUNCEMENT AND NOW YOU'VE GOT, UM, YOU KNOW, CERTAIN BUSINESSES, RESTAURANTS WHO ARE SAYING, YEAH, I CAN'T OPEN FRIDAY, BUT I'M NOT GOING TO BECAUSE I FEEL LIKE IT'S TOO SOON.
UM, BUT, BUT LET ME JUST MOVE ON.
'CAUSE I, I KNOW, UM, I'VE GOT SHORT TIME.
I, I THINK IT UNDERSCORES NOW, UM, AS WE TRANSITION THE IMPORTANCE OF THE WARNING INDICATORS THAT YOU'VE OUTLINED, I THINK IT'S ON SLIDE SEVEN MM-HMM.
UM, I WANTED TO ASK SPECIFICALLY ABOUT THE FIRST ONE, WHICH IS THE DOUBLING TIME THAT YOU REFERRED TO, UM, ASSUMING THAT WE'RE GETTING, UH, AN INCREASE IN TESTING.
UM, I'M JUST WONDERING HOW, HOW DO WE SQUARE OR RECONCILE, UM, THAT DOUBLING TIME INDICATOR AS THE TESTING CAPACITY INCREASES? THAT IS A GREAT QUESTION.
UH, I SHOULD HAVE, UH, FIRST SAID, THANK YOU SO MUCH TO YOU FOR YOUR SHOUT OUT TO OUR TEAM.
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THANK YOU FOR YOUR WORK AS OUR LIAISON.IT HAS BEEN GREAT TO GET TO WORK WITH YOU IN THIS CAPACITY.
SO WITH REGARDS TO THE WARNING INDICATORS THERE, SO I THINK OUR TEAM WOULD FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE LOOKING AT ANY OF THEM IN ISOLATION.
UM, THE DOUBLING, YOU KNOW, AS WE TEST MORE, WE WILL, I HOPE ACTUALLY THAT WE FIND MORE FOLKS WITH INFECTION.
'CAUSE THAT MEANS THAT WE'RE DOING THE RIGHT THING.
WE'RE ALSO GOING TO BE FINDING MORE PEOPLE WHO TEST POSITIVE FOR THE VIRUS WHO ARE ASYMPTOMATIC.
BUT I THINK THAT ON BALANCE WITH THE PERCENTAGE OF POSITIVE TESTS, AS WE DO MORE TESTS ALREADY, WE HAVE SEEN A DRAMATIC DECREASE IN THE PERCENT POSITIVITY RATE OF OUR TESTS OVER THE LAST THREE WEEKS.
SO I THINK THOSE TWO BALANCE ONE ANOTHER.
AND AS WE HAVE DISCUSSED, I FEEL LIKE QUITE A BIT THE, THESE ARE THREE THAT WE ARE CALLING OUT, BUT THEY ARE CERTAINLY NOT THE ONLY ONES.
UM, AS FAR AS WARNING INDICATORS, WE COULD ADD THINGS LIKE HOTSPOTS OR THINGS THAT ARE POPPING UP TO THAT LIST EASILY.
AND THAT'S WHY WE WANTED TO MAKE OUR GUIDANCE FLEXIBLE.
I THINK I JUST GOT THE BUZZER, SO, UH, WE'LL TALK OFFLINE.
UH, COMMISSIONER RODRIGUEZ, WE'LL MOVE NOW TO, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER VERAN, UH, DISTRICT THREE.
TAYLOR A LITTLE BIT OF A BREAK, I'M GONNA GO STRAIGHT TO ANDY SEGOVIA RIGHT NOW.
UM, ANDY, I DO HAVE SOME QUESTIONS ABOUT THE, UM, ORDER.
AND YOU DID PRESENT THIS IN YOUR SLIDE, IN YOUR PRESENTATION, UM, SPECIFICALLY ABOUT SOME ITEMS THAT THE GOVERNOR SAID, BUT IT WASN'T STATED IN THE ORDER.
AND SO HOW, HOW ARE WE RECONCILING THAT? HOW DO WE RECONCILE THAT? WELL, UH, IT OBVIOUSLY IF IT'S STATED, UH, COUNCILWOMAN IN THE ORDER, THAT OBVIOUSLY TAKES HIGH PRIORITY IN TERMS OF WHAT WE NEED TO FOLLOW.
UH, THINGS UHHUH THAT HE, UH, PROBABLY SAID IN HIS, IN HIS, IN HIS STATEMENT, HAVE LESS OF A, UH, I SHOULDN'T SAY LESS OBVIOUSLY A DIFFERENT LEGAL IMPACT THAN SOME THAT'S ACTUALLY IN HIS ORDER.
UH, THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT THE THINGS HE MENTIONED IN HIS REMARKS DURING THE, UM, DURING HIS PRESS CONFERENCE ARE CONSISTENT WITH WHAT THE, THE APPROACH WE'RE TAKING.
AND REALLY THE, THE KEY DIFFERENCE WAS ON THE ALLOWING OF INDIVIDUALS TO PLAY SPORTS AS LONG AS IT'S LIMITED TO FOUR OR LESS PEOPLE.
UH, BUT IT WAS CLEAR FROM HIS COMMENTS THAT HE MEANT THOSE SPORTING ACTIVITIES THAT DIDN'T ENTAIL PHYSICAL CONTACT.
TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION, WE FOCUS ON WHAT'S IN THE ORDER.
AND SO THAT'S WHERE, UM, UH, COUPLE OF, UH, SO I DID GET WITH, UM, A COUPLE OF MY COLLEAGUES JUST TO DO SOME STUDYING LAST NIGHT BECAUSE WE DIDN'T HAVE ENOUGH TO READ THROUGH.
SO WE WENT THROUGH AND DID SOME STUDYING OF THE GOVERNOR'S ORDERS, UM, JUST TO TALK THROUGH THEM TO SEE IF WE WERE UNDERSTANDING THEM.
NOTHING, IT WAS NOT MORE THAN THREE OF US TOTAL.
UH, SO ONE OF THE QUESTIONS, I GOT THE WORK PRODUCT AND IT WAS VERY GOOD WORK PRODUCT COUNCIL.
IT WAS ACTUALLY VERY HELPFUL FOR ME.
UM, JUST SOME QUESTIONS OF CLARIFICATION THAT SOME, UH, BUSINESSES HAVE REACHED OUT ASKING.
SO IF THE A GROUP OR A FAMILY MEMBER SHOWS UP TO A RESTAURANT AND WHEN THEY SHOW UP THE GROUP OR THE FAMILY, UM, IS MORE THAN 25% OF THE CAPACITY THERE, WHAT IS THE, WHAT IS THE RESTAURANT TO DO? THEY CAN'T HAVE MORE THAN THE 25%.
THE, THE RESTAURANT NEEDS TO ADHERE TO THE 25% COUNCILWOMAN UN UNFORTUNATELY, THAT WOULD MEAN THAT THE, UH, THE FAMILY SHOWING UP SHOULD, UH, ALREADY MAKE ARRANGEMENTS OF HOW THEY WILL, YOU KNOW, SPLIT UP SO THAT THEY CAN ACCOMMODATE THE RESTAURANT REQUIREMENTS.
BUT, UH, DEFINITIVELY THE, THE RESTAURANT HAS TO ADHERE TO THE 25%.
AND I KNOW THAT, UM, FOR THE OUTDOOR SPACES, AND I, I, AND I WAS ASKING YOU THIS QUESTION, BUT THE GOVERNOR'S, UM, ANNOUNCEMENT OR THE GOVERNOR'S ORDERS DIDN'T ADDRESS, UM, THE ZOO OR ZOOS DID IT, OR WAS, IS IT UNDER A CERTAIN SECTOR? THEY DIDN'T ADDRESS ZOOS SPECIFICALLY COUNCILWOMAN, BUT IF, UH, YOU WERE TO ASK ME, ZOOS WOULD PROBABLY FALL INTO THE, UH, ENTERTAINMENT AMUSEMENT, UM, SECTOR.
[01:35:01]
UH, SO THEREFORE THEY WOULD REMAIN CLOSED IN MY VIEW.AND THEN WITH BARS, I KNOW THERE ARE TWO DIFFERENT CATEGORIES, UH, AT LEAST IN OUR, UH, BARS, THAT WITH 51% OF THE RESTAURANT BEING A BAR OR WITH THE BAR THE ENTIRE, IF IT'S A RESTAURANT WITH A BAR, CAN YOU EXPLAIN TO ME THOSE TWO, THE DIFFERENTIATION OR THE PERCENT OF A BAR? ABSOLUTELY.
UH, AND, UH, UH, TO TRY TO SIMPLIFY IT AS BEST I CAN.
USUALLY BARS ARE CATEGORIZED AS THOSE ESTABLISHMENT THAT SELL MORE, UH, LIQUOR AND ALCOHOL THAN THEY DO FOOD.
AND THAT'S WHERE THE 51% FROM THE GOVERNOR'S ORDER FALLS IN.
SO A BAR, AS LONG AS THEY'RE SELLING MORE LIQUOR THAN THEY DO FOOD, THERE ARE, THEREFORE THEY REMAIN CLOSED RESTAURANTS AS LONG AS MORE THAN 51% OF THEIR REVENUE COMES FROM FOOD OVER ALCOHOL, THEY CAN REMAIN OPEN, INCLUDING, UH, THEIR BAR AREA.
SO REALLY, THEY, THEY EITHER FALL IN ONE CATEGORY OR THE OTHER.
UH, AND WHETHER A RESTAURANT HAS A BAR AREA OR NOT DOESN'T, UH, PLACE 'EM IN ONE CATEGORY OR THE OTHER.
IT, IT REALLY IS JUST THE LOOKING AT THEIR REVENUE AND THE GATHERING.
UH, DID HE DE DEFINE A NUMBER OF LARGE GATHERINGS OR IS THAT STILL UP TO CITIES? THAT'S A GOOD QUESTION.
COUNCILWOMAN, NO, HE DID NOT GO INTO A SPECIFICS ON GATHERINGS.
UH, WE, OUR LOCAL ORDER, UH, DOES CALL FOR NO GATHERINGS OUTSIDE THE HOUSEHOLD UNLESS YOU'RE ENGAGED IN ONE OF THE ESSENTIAL BUSINESSES OR ESSENTIAL ACTIVITIES.
UM, AND SO YES, OUR ORDER CAN, UH, DEFINE THAT OR REFINE IT AS, AS WE SEE FIT.
AND THEN I'LL JUST, UH, CLOSE BY SAYING THANK YOU DR.
TAYLOR FOR YOUR WORK AND, UM, TO MY COLLEAGUES AND EVERYONE, UM, AND, AND TO THE MAYOR AND THE JUDGE, THANK YOU, UH, FOR PUTTING TOGETHER THIS GROUP.
UH, WITH THE END OF COURSE, MY COLLEAGUE, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER SANDOVAL AND THE COMMISSIONER, COMMISSIONER, UH, JUSTIN RODRIGUEZ, UH, WE FOUND SOME THINGS THAT, UH, WERE IN OURS THAT MAYBE WASN'T THE HEALTH TEAM'S PRESENTATION OR PRODUCT, BUT NOT NECESSARILY IN THE GOVERNOR'S PRODUCT.
AND VICE VERSA, I WOULD SAY THAT I THINK IT WOULD BE GOOD IF WE COULD WORK ABOUT UNIFYING OR, UH, GETTING THE UNIFORMITY OF PHASING NUMBERS SO AS TO BRING CLARITY TO, UH, FOR OUR RESIDENTS AND, UH, SAN ANTONIANS, THANK YOU FOR YOUR FOCUS ON EQUITY AS WELL.
UM, BECAUSE NOT ONLY WERE YOU IN YOUR OWN HEALTH TRANSITION TEAM MEETINGS, YOU ALSO WERE IN PLENTY OF MEETINGS WITH THE ECONOMIC TRANSITION TEAM.
AND, UH, THANK YOU BECAUSE IT'S, WE HAVE BEEN WORKING TOGETHER VERY COLLABORATIVELY AND VERY PRODUCTIVELY TO DEVELOP THOSE RISK MITIGATION STRATEGIES AND BUILD CONSUMER CONFIDENCE.
UM, AS WE MOVE FORWARD, I WANT TO THANK OUR CO-CHAIRS OF THE E T T, KEVIN, UH, VOCAL AND ISSA BECAUSE THEY HAVE BEEN, WE'VE BEEN WORKING VERY HARD AND OF COURSE, UM, WE'VE HAD ABOUT FIVE OFFICIAL MEETINGS IN FIVE AND A HALF DAYS, JUST WITH THE ECONOMIC TRANSITION TEAM.
AND, UM, OUR CONVERSATIONS ARE GOING VERY WELL.
COUNCIL MEMBER GROTEN, UH, WE'LL MOVE NOW TO PRECINCT THREE.
COMMISSIONER, I THINK, UH, COMMISSIONER WOLF.
I THINK YOU MIGHT BE MUTED MY SIDE ON, I THINK WE MIGHT BE HAVING SOME TECHNICAL, THAT WAS HIM.
WE'LL COME BACK AND SEE IF WE CAN WORK OUT THE TECHNICAL ISSUES WITH, UM, COMMISSIONER WOLF.
ALRIGHT, WE'LL MOVE NOW TO, UH, DISTRICT FOUR, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER R GARCIA.
AND, UH, THANK YOU ALSO TO JUDGE WOLF AND, AND TO ALL OF MY COLLEAGUES FOR THEIR HARD WORK ON THIS.
TAYLOR, I'M VERY IMPRESSED, UM, WITH THE REPORT.
I HAD TOLD YOU THIS ALREADY, THAT, UM, IN MY OPINION, THIS IS ACTUALLY BETTER THAN, UM, WHAT THE STATE DID.
UM, I LOVE THE FACT THAT THIS IS, UM, BASED ON ACADEMIC, UH, AND SCIENCE.
I APPRECIATE, UM, APPENDICES AT
[01:40:01]
THE BACK.I APPRECIATE THE DEFINITIONS, UM, THAT YOU HAVE.
I HAVE A LITTLE BIT OF QUESTIONS NOW THAT I GOT TO READ THE ENTIRE REPORT.
UM, AND, UH, I WANT ASK FIRST, UM, AND I, I APPRECIATE SOME OF THE QUESTIONS THAT CAME UP EARLIER ABOUT THE IMPACTS TO THE MOST VULNERABLE, AND I, I REALLY APPRECIATE THAT IT'S ADDRESSED AS WELL.
UM, ONE OF THE QUESTIONS THAT I HAVE IS THE MODIFICATION POTENTIAL.
YOU TALKED ABOUT, UM, VERSUS THE CDCS UM, MITIGATION STRATEGY CONCEPT.
WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE? UM, I SEE HOW THEY WORK HAND IN HAND, BUT I JUST DIDN'T,
UM, I THINK IT WAS 24, IT WAS 27.
UM, YOU REFERENCED THAT THERE WAS, UH, A LITTLE BIT OF A DIFFERENCE IN OUR VOCABULARY.
UM, AND THEN IT, WE SOME OF THESE MITIGATION RESOURCES, BUT IS IT OVERALL MITIGATION RESOURCES FROM ALL THE DIFFERENT STATES AND CITIES THAT YOU REFERENCED IN THAT APPENDIX? OR WAS IT SPECIFICALLY C D C RISK MITIGATION RESOURCES? UM, IF IT IS, WHERE IS THAT DOCUMENT? SO, SORRY, THOSE ARE MULTIPLE QUESTIONS, BUT IF YOU CAN HELP ME UNDERSTAND THAT PART A LITTLE BIT BETTER.
SO FIRST, THANK YOU SO MUCH, UH, ON BEHALF OF THE TEAM.
WE'RE REALLY GRATEFUL THAT THIS REPORT, UH, IS SOMETHING THAT YOU FIND USEFUL.
AND SO IT'S GREAT TO HEAR THAT.
WE'RE ALSO PLEASED THAT YOU LIKE THAT IT IS LONG.
UM, I THINK MARK TWAIN SAYS SOMETHING ABOUT, I COULD NOT, I COULD HAVE MADE IT SHORTER IF I HAD TIME, BUT INSTEAD I MADE IT LONG.
SO Y'ALL GOT A LONG REPORT 'CAUSE WE HAD A WEEK.
UM, BUT SO WITH REGARD TO THE, I AGREE, THERE'S A, UM, THERE'S A VOCABULARY ISSUE WITH MODIFICATION AND MITIGATION.
SO THIS GIVES ME A CHANCE TO FIRST GIVE A SHOUT OUT TO THE JOHNS HOPKINS BLOOMBERG SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH REPORT, WHICH WE, ALL OF THESE TABLES AND THESE THREE THINGS, INCLUDING THE TERMINOLOGY MODIFICATION POTENTIAL, ALL COMES FROM THAT REPORT.
SO HOPEFULLY WE HAVE ATTRIBUTED THAT THROUGHOUT THE REPORT.
UM, WE CHANGED THEIR TABLES AND WE ADDED SOME COLORS SO THAT HOPEFULLY IT'S A LITTLE BIT EASIER TO SEE, BUT THEY REALLY DESERVE ALL THE CREDIT FOR THAT GUIDANCE.
AND IN SOME WAYS, SO I AM, UH, I'M NOT A BUSINESS OWNER, UM, BUT MY UNDERSTANDING AND MY CONVERSATIONS WITH THE ECONOMIC TRANSITION TEAM, UM, AND KEVIN AND JULISA HAVE BEEN REALLY HELPFUL IN TERMS OF UNDERSTANDING HOW THEY SEE THIS LENS.
SO I WOULD SAY MODIFICATION POTENTIAL IS JUST AS DEFINED.
HOW EASY IS IT, IS IT TO CHANGE A SETTING? SO, YOU KNOW, YOU CAN HAVE A RESTAURANT AND YOU CAN HAVE YOU MOVE THE TABLES APART AND PUT THE TABLES OUTSIDE.
AND FOR A SMALL GYM, LIKE A CROSSFIT GYM, ACTUALLY MITIGATING IN THERE IS MUCH, I'M NOT GONNA SAY EASY, BUT IT IS IN SOME WAYS MUCH MORE CLEAR HOW TO DO THAT IN A SETTING WHERE YOU HAVE 10 PEOPLE IN A CLASS, YOU CAN BOX 'EM OFF AND YOU'VE GOT ONE PERSON OBSERVING THEM VERSUS A LARGE GYM WHERE PEOPLE ARE CIRCULATING WITH SMALL EQUIPMENT.
SO THAT'S, I THINK WHAT MODIFICATION, TEMP POTENTIAL TRIES TO CAPTURE MITIGATION IS, I THINK A MORE, UH, I WOULD SAY TECHNIC.
I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S A MORE TECHNICAL TERM, BUT IT IS WHAT I AM UNDERSTANDING THAT BUSINESSES USE TO DESCRIBE ALL OF THE THINGS.
AND IT INCLUDES THINGS LIKE AIR EXCHANGE AND THINGS THAT ARE, UH, WELL BEYOND MY PAY GRADE AS A NON-BUSINESS OWNER.
SO, UM, I'M GONNA GIVE ANOTHER SHOUT OUT TO SHARON UTI, OUR AMAZING INFECTIOUS DISEASES FELLOW WHO PUT THIS, I DON'T KNOW HOW MANY SHE PUT IT TOGETHER, AND I, IT'S LIKE A FOUR PAGE LIST.
I'VE GOT
AND SO THERE, OUR C D C HAS MITIGATION STRATEGIES AND THESE ARE OTHER MITIGATION STRATEGIES.
THIS IS DEFINITELY NOT A COMPLETE LIST.
A LOT OF THESE ARE THINGS THAT WE PULLED FROM THE HOPKINS DOCUMENT AND THEN WE SUPPLEMENT IT.
SO ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I SUGGESTED TO THE ECONOMIC TRANSITION TEAM IS THAT WE COULD ACTUALLY, UH, I KNOW THE APPENDIX IS LONG ALREADY, BUT I'M SURE IT COULD BE EXPANDED BECAUSE THERE ARE MANY, MANY, YOU KNOW, NATIONAL RESTAURANT ASSOCIATION, ALL THESE OTHER GROUPS THAT ARE PUTTING TOGETHER, REALLY TOYOTA HAS THEIR OWN PLAN.
H E B DOES TOO, THAT ARE REALLY DOING THOUGHTFUL WORK ON MITIGATION, WHICH I THINK IS DIFFERENT THAN A MORE GENERAL QUALITATIVE ASSESSMENT OF MODIFICATION POTENTIAL.
SORRY, I KNOW THAT EXPLANATION WAS A LITTLE IN THE WEEDS.
SO DID I ANSWER YOUR QUESTION? YES.
AND THEN, AND THEN I'LL FOLLOW UP OFFLINE WITH, WITH ANOTHER QUESTION THAT I HAVE, UM, FOLLOW UP TO ONE OF THOSE APPEND.
UM, BUT I DO HAVE ANOTHER QUESTION.
IS THE IMOCA PATIENT MOBILE APP THAT IS REFERENCED ON PAGE 14, UM, IS THAT THE SAME
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ONE THAT THE STATE IS USING? AND IF NOT, UM, WHY WAS THIS PARTICULAR PORTAL SELECTED? HOW DID WE CHOOSE THEM? OR IS, IS THERE ANYTHING, ANYONE ELSE PROVIDING THE SAME TYPE? LIKE, JUST HELP ME UNDERSTAND HOW THE SELECTION PROCESS FOR, I THINK IT'S CALLED IMOCA.AND TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION, I'M ACTUALLY GOING TO CALL ON MY COLLEAGUE AND FRIEND DR.
EMRICK, WHO IS LEADING THIS CHARGE.
SO IMOCA IS A, SO WE ALREADY HAVE, METRO HEALTH HAS A, UM, A CONTRACT ALREADY THAT WE DO DIRECT OBSERVATION, UH, THERAPY ON FOR OUR TB CLIENTS.
AND SO WE ALREADY HAVE HAD SOME, UM, MOBILE HEALTH ENGAGEMENT OR CONTRACTS, UM, THAT PARTICULAR MOBILE HEALTH, UM, CONTRACT DID NOT PIVOT.
THEY DID NOT PIVOT THEIR MODEL TO ADDRESS COVID TO 19, HOWEVER ECA DID.
AND SO, UM, OUR I T S C, UM, UM, SECTION OF THE CITY WORKED WITH THEM, UM, TO SEE IF WE COULD BE A PILOT FOR THEM.
THEY ALREADY DO, UH, CONTACT TRACING AND INVESTIGATION FOR THE HEALTHCARE COMMUNITY.
AND SO WE, UM, AND TO HELP US WITH OUR SCALE UP, OUR CONTACT TRACING SCALE UP, WE ENGAGE THEM TO SEE, WE'RE JUST DOING A PILOT WITH THEM RIGHT NOW.
AND SO WE'RE WORKING WITH THEM TO SEE IF THEY CAN HELP US, UM, WITH THE SCALE.
UH, IT'S NOT GONNA BE SOMETHING THAT WILL COMPETE WITH THE STATE.
UM, AND, AND WE'LL, WE HAVE A, UM, A WEBINAR WITH THE STATE ON THURSDAY TO SEE WHAT THEY'RE DOING, BUT THEY'RE REALLY TWO DIFFERENT THINGS.
AND SO WE THINK THAT THEY'LL COMPLIMENT ONE ANOTHER.
UH, MAYOR, I END THE INTEREST OF 10.
THOSE ARE MY QUESTIONS FOR NOW.
UH, COUNCILMAN ROCHA GARCIA AND, AND I THINK COMMISSIONER, WE, UM, NOT YET, NOT ON THE TECH STUFF YET, SO, UH, WE WILL, WE'LL COME BACK, UH, AS SOON AS THAT'S READY.
UH, WE'LL GO NOW TO PRECINCT FOUR, COMMISSIONER TOMMY CALVERT.
UM, I'M GONNA MOVE FAST BECAUSE I'VE GOT ABOUT A DOZEN QUESTIONS, SO, UM, IF ANYBODY ON THE PANEL WANTS TO COMMENT, UM, AND HELP OUT, THEN THAT WOULD BE GREAT.
UM, SO WOULD YOU CONSIDER THE PERCENTAGE OF BEXAR COUNTY RESIDENTS WITH HEART DISEASE, DIABETES, UH, PULMONARY ISSUES, IMMUNE DEFICIENCIES TO BE EVIDENCE FOR THE EVIDENCE-BASED DECISION MAKING PROCESS OF THE COUNTY AND CITY? THANK YOU, COMMISSIONER CALVERT.
SO I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE I UNDERSTAND YOUR QUESTION.
YOUR, YOUR QUESTION IS DO, ARE WE CONSIDERING THE, THE FACT THAT SAN ANTONIO AND BEXAR COUNTY HAVE A HIGHER BURDEN OF MANY OF THOSE ILLNESSES TO BE PART OF OUR CONSIDERATIONS AS WE MAKE GUIDANCE? YEAH, THE ESSENCE OF THE QUESTION IS CORRECT, BUT BASICALLY, UM, WOULD YOU CONSIDER THE PERCENTAGE OF BEXAR COUNTY RESIDENTS WITH THOSE PARTICULAR, UH, DISEASES AS PART OF THE EVIDENCE-BASED DECISION MAKING PROCESS? UM, YES.
AND, UH, THIS IS NOT A GOTCHA QUESTION, SO IF ANYBODY WANTS TO CHIME IN, DO YOU, CAN YOU HELP ME WITH LIKE THE TOP THREE? WHAT ARE THE PERCENTAGES OF BEXAR COUNTY RESIDENTS WITH HEART DISEASE, DIABETES, AND PULMONARY ISSUES, ROUGHLY? SO I THINK IT'S HARD TO FIND A SINGLE NUMBER FOR PULMONARY ISSUES BECAUSE THAT'S A BROAD CATEGORY.
UM, DIABETES, I BELIEVE IS AROUND 13%.
OBESITY, WHICH IS ANOTHER RISK IS HOVERS.
IT'S A LITTLE BIT BELOW 30% MY UNDERSTANDING HEART DISEASE, AGAIN, IT'S A BROAD, UH, THERE ARE MANY THINGS THAT FACTOR INTO HEART DISEASE, SO I CAN'T, I DON'T HAVE A SPECIFIC NUMBER FOR YOU.
SO HAVE WE HAD A DECLINE IN THE NUMBER OF NEW COVID 19 CASES OVER THE LAST 14 DAYS? SO I DON'T THINK SO YET.
UM, BUT IT DEPENDS ON, I WOULD SAY IT REALLY DEPENDS ON HOW THAT VARIABLE IS OPERATIONALIZED, WHICH IS SOMETHING THAT WE, UM, DIDN'T FEEL LIKE AS IN, AS PEOPLE WHO ARE GIVING GUIDANCE IS OUR ROLE.
THAT IS SOMETHING THAT, YOU KNOW, METRO HEALTH AND STRAC ARE GLADLY, UM, A PART OF A B C WORLD NEWS, UH, TWO NIGHTS AGO HAD AN INDI UM, A TEST OF, EXCUSE ME, A STORY ABOUT TESTING INDICATING THAT THREE OF 14 TESTS WERE COMING UP WITH FALSE TEST RESULTS.
SO WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO TO VERIFY TESTS? UH, UH, ARE WE GOING TO LOOK FOR F D A APPROVAL? UH, WILL THE COMMITTEE OR JOINT TASK FORCE PROMOTE AN F D A APPROVED TESTING PROTOCOL FOR ENTITIES DOING TESTS TO PREVENT OUR COMMUNITY FROM BEING SCAMMED? THAT IS A GREAT QUESTION.
I THINK IT IS AS A, AS A HEALTHCARE PROVIDER WATCHING,
[01:50:01]
UH, MANY OF MY PATIENTS GET SOLICITATIONS OF ALL KINDS OF TESTS, YOU KNOW, AS, AS I'M SURE YOU KNOW, THE F D A SORT OF RELAXED ALL APPROVALS FOR THE ANTIBODY TESTING.AND IT IS, I THINK PROBABLY THE BEST WAY I'VE HEARD IT DESCRIBED IS A WILD, WILD WEST.
AND THEY'RE DOING A LOT OF DIRECT TO CONSUMER ADVERTISING FOR THOSE TESTS, MANY OF WHOM, MANY OF THE TESTS ARE NOT APPROVED.
I THINK THE TESTING TASK FORCE THAT IS LED BY METRO HEALTH AND CONVENES BOTH PRIVATE LABORATORIES, PUBLIC LABS, UM, PROVIDERS, IS A GREAT PLACE.
THEY'VE BEEN PUTTING OUT RECOMMENDATIONS, I BELIEVE IT WAS YESTERDAY THAT METRO HEALTH ACTUALLY MADE A SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATION ABOUT ANTIBODY TESTING BECAUSE I, I THINK ALL OF US, EVERY ONE OF US ON THE TEAM ARE DEEPLY CONCERNED ABOUT MAKING SURE THAT TESTING WHETHER OR NOT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT A TEST FOR ACTIVE INFECTION LIKE A P C R AND AN ANTIGEN TEST, WHICH IS WHAT WE'RE SEEING WITH THE NASAL SWABS AND THIS NEWER ANTIBODY TESTING, UM, THAT PEOPLE UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY'RE GETTING WHEN THEY'RE GETTING TESTED BECAUSE IT'S A HUGE, SO, SO LEMME JUST, LEMME JUST RECLAIM MY TIME VERY QUICKLY 'CAUSE IT'S ALMOST THAT WILL THERE BE A TESTING VERIFICATION COMMITTEE AND WHAT PENALTIES, UH, WILL BE ENACTED FOR FALSE TESTS? UM, ARE THERE, UH, ANY CURRENT MALPRACTICE OR, OR CRIMINAL LAWS THAT THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY COULD APPLY IN THE VERIFICATION OF TESTING? BECAUSE IN ESSENCE, THESE CITIES CAN BE PART OF VERIFYING, UH, THE ACTUAL RESULTS OF CERTAIN, UH, TESTS.
BUT IS THIS SOMETHING THAT'S BEEN TALKED ABOUT? I'M GONNA ACTUALLY DEFER TO DR.
EMRICH WHO'S LEADING THE TESTING TASK FORCE TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION.
SO WE, UM, METRO HEALTH IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR REGULATING PRIVATE PHYSICIAN PRACTICES.
UM, HOWEVER, WE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR PUTTING OUT HEALTH ADVISORIES, AND THAT IS WHAT WE, UM, POSTED ON OUR WEBSITE YESTERDAY.
WE'VE BEEN DOING THAT THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE PANDEMIC.
UM, WHETHER IT'S OUR TESTING CRITERIA OR, YOU KNOW, UM, QUARANTINE CHANGES, ANY OF THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS AT THE LOCAL LEVEL, WE PUT THOSE HEALTH ADVISORIES OUT.
SO WE DID POST OUR POSITION ON ANTIBODY TESTING, UM, BUT WE DO NOT HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO REGULATE OR TO DO ANY TYPE OF, UM, UM, YOU KNOW, FINDING TO PRIVATE PROVIDERS.
NOW, WHAT WE COULD DO HOWEVER, IS, YOU KNOW, CERTAINLY IF THIS IS SOMETHING THAT THE TESTING TASK FORCE WANTS TO PULL TOGETHER AS A POLICY TO MAKE POLICY, THEN IF WE ARE GONNA COME BACK AND DO ANY TYPE OF ADDITIONAL DECLARATION, THEN CERTAINLY WE CAN PUT SOME OF THOSE THINGS INTO OUR DECLARATION ANTIBODY TESTING IS NOT A REPORTABLE DISEASE OR A REPORTABLE LAB RESULT TO YOUR LOCAL METRO HEALTH.
SO WE DON'T HAVE, AT THIS TIME, WE DO NOT HAVE ANY AUTHORITY OR REGULATION OVER THAT, BUT WE COULD PUT THAT INTO A FUTURE DECLARATION IF THE TESTING TASK FORCE SEEMS THAT THAT'S APPROPRIATE.
I'M PARTICULARLY CONCERNED ABOUT IT IN MINORITY COMMUNITIES.
UH, BUT FOR EVERY CITIZEN IT MATTERS.
AND THE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE HEALTH TRANSITION TEAM REPORT, YOUR LAST BULLET UNDER INDICATORS OF CAPACITY INDICATES THAT A PREPARED HEALTHCARE SYSTEM THAT CAN SAFELY CARE FOR ALL PATIENTS INCLUDE SUFFICIENT PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT FOR HEALTHCARE WORKERS.
BUT I WONDER IF THE COMMITTEE CONSIDERED A BULLET THAT THERE SHOULD BE A PREPARED BUSINESS SYSTEM THAT CAN SAFELY SERVE ALL CLIENTS AND CUSTOMERS WITH P P E.
WE WOULD SAY THAT THAT IS IN THE PERVIEW OF THE ECONOMIC TRANSITION TEAM, AND I KNOW THAT THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT.
LET ME ASK YOU ABOUT, UM, WHAT ARE THE STANDARDS THE HEALTHCARE COMMITTEE IS RECOMMENDING IN TERMS OF STAFFING FOR NURSING HOMES? MIGHT THERE ALSO BE RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE LEGISLATURE? I MEAN, FOR EXAMPLE, THERE'S TWO OR THREE NURSES WORKING IN A, A NURSING HOME WITH, UH, 60 POSITIVE COVID.
IS THAT ENOUGH BY THE HEALTHCARE COMMITTEE STANDARDS? OR SHOULD WE BE LOBBYING FOR BETTER STANDARDS? SO THAT'S NOT SOMETHING THAT WE SPECIFICALLY LOOKED AT AS THE HEALTHCARE TRANSITION TEAM.
THERE ARE, THERE ARE MANY REGULATIONS THAT THAT STAFF NURSING HOMES, BUT IT IS SOMETHING THAT, THAT WE IT'S TRUE, WHICH IS NOT SOMETHING WE SPECIFICALLY LOOKED AT.
IS THERE ANY, UH, ADDITIONAL FEDERAL OR STATE LEGISLATION YOU'RE LOOKING AT ADDITIONAL FEDERAL OR STATE REGULATION REGARDING, UH, NURSING HOMES, PUBLIC HEALTH IN GENERAL, FROM THE COMMITTEE? NO.
FOR THIS ISSUE, NO, NOT, WE WERE GIVEN A, A WEEK AND SO WE, WE DID THE REPORT AND, UH, THAT'S, AND SO WE ARE NOT, WE'RE NOT CONTINUING TO DO ADVISEMENT.
UH, COMMISSIONER CALVERT, UM, WE'RE GONNA GO NOW TO, UM,
[01:55:01]
LEMME SEE, UH, COMMISSIONER WOLF, ARE YOU, ARE YOU ABLE TO, UM, I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR US.CAN YOU TEST YOUR MIC REAL QUICK? OKAY, WE'LL, WE'LL KEEP TRYING BACK.
UM, COMMISSIONER WOLF IS WITH US, BUT WE'RE HAVING SOME TROUBLE WITH THE MIC, SO WE'LL MOVE NOW TO, UM, COUNCIL MEMBER CAB BERDA, DISTRICT SIX.
AND THANK YOU TO THE COMMITTEE ON THIS VERY COMPREHENSIVE REPORT AND ALL THE WORK THAT WENT INTO COMPILING THE DATA AND ANALYSIS.
UM, JUST MOVING FORWARD, I KNOW THE PUBLIC IS GONNA HAVE A LOT OF QUESTIONS AND SO, UH, WORKING WITH THE CITY TO CREATE A PUBLIC MESSAGING FORUM SO THAT WE CAN BEGIN TO ANSWER THOSE QUESTIONS IN MORE, UH, REAL TIME.
BUT, UH, I LOOK FORWARD TO WORKING WITH G P A AND AND THE TEAM UNDER JEFF TO, TO CONTINUE TO DISSEMINATE THE REPORT TO OUR CONSTITUENTS IN THE COURSE KEEPING THE PUBLIC INFORMED.
I JUST HAD A QUICK COMMENT, UM, AND I'LL KEEP MY, UM, I'LL WAIT FOR PUBLIC COMMENT TO COME IN SO THAT I CAN ASK MORE QUESTIONS OF YOU GUYS.
COUNCIL MEMBER AU MOVE NOW TO COUNCIL MEMBER SANDOVAL, UH, WHO IS ALSO OUR LIAISON FOR THE CITY COUNCIL ON THE HEALTH TEAM.
AND I WANNA THANK YOU AND THE JUDGE FOR APPOINTING, UH, MYSELF AND COMMISSIONER RODRIGUEZ AS LIAISONS.
UM, WE ARE NOT, MAYBE I SHOULD SPEAK FOR MYSELF, WE ARE NOT HALF AS SMART AS THE PEOPLE, UH, ON THAT GROUP, BUT IT WAS A WONDERFUL OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN FROM THEM AND WATCH THEM IN, IN ACTION.
TAYLOR, UH, EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT WORK AND EXCELLENT PRESENTATION TODAY.
UM, I I WANNA BE CLEAR, I WANNA MAKE SOME, UH, COMMENTS REGARDING THIS REPORT, UH, VERSUS THAT ISSUED BY THE GOVERNOR AND HIS ORDER.
UM, LOOK, IT'S CLEAR THESE REPORTS WERE DEVELOPED UNDER DIFFERENT PREMISES AND FOR DIFFERENT PURPOSES.
SO, UM, EVEN THOUGH I'M GOING TO COMPARE THEM TO SOME EXTENT, THEY WEREN'T REALLY DESIGNED FOR THE SAME THING.
IT'S CLEAR THAT OUR REPORT, UH, COMMISSIONED BY YOU AND, AND THE JUDGE WAS DESIGNED TO PROVIDE A HEALTH-BASED FRAMEWORK FOR HOW DO WE OPEN SAFELY AND WHAT ADDITIONAL PARAMETERS SHOULD WE, AS YOUR ELECTED LEADERS CONSIDER AS WE MOVE FORWARD? HOW DO WE MAKE THE BEST DECISIONS? UM, IT WAS ALSO, UH, MEANT TO BE HANDED OVER TO THESE ECONOMIC TRANSITION TEAM SO THAT THEY, WITH KNOWLEDGE OF WHAT'S ON THE GROUND, COULD DEVELOP WHAT WORKS BEST FOR THEIR SECTORS.
UM, AND HAVING THAT FEEDBACK LOOP BETWEEN THE ECONOMIC TRANSITION TEAM AND THE HEALTH TRANSITION TEAM WOULD GET US TO THE SAFEST POSSIBLE OPENING THAT WOULD STILL DRIVE, UH, OUR ECONOMY HERE IN SAN ANTONIO.
SO I THINK THAT WORKS FOR US, THAT WORKS FOR SAN ANTONIO.
UM, AS PART OF THE GUIDANCE THAT DR.
TAYLOR PRESENTED WERE INDICATORS FOR PROGRESS FOR HOW DO WE KNOW WHEN IT'S SAFE TO OPEN? I WANNA BE CLEAR THAT IN THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO AND BEXAR COUNTY, AS FAR AS I KNOW, THOSE INDICATORS HAVE YET TO BE MET.
AND THE OPENING OF CERTAIN BUSINESSES, I WOULD SAY IS PRE, UM, WHAT'S THE WORD,
IT'S PRE, UM, I'M FORGETTING THE WORD RIGHT NOW.
UH, IT'S TOO EARLY FOR, FOR SOME OF THOSE.
AND IT IS PUTTING, IT IS GOING TO PUT SOME OF OUR COMMUNITY AT RISK.
THEREFORE, UH, BECAUSE WE CAN'T, UH, DIRECTLY CONFLICT WITH THE ORDER, IT IS GOING TO BE INCUMBENT UPON THE ECONOMIC TRANSITION TEAM AND THEIR CREATIVITY AS WELL AS THE POWERS THAT THIS GOVERNMENT WILL STILL HAVE TO KEEP OUR COMMUNITY AS SAFE AS POSSIBLE.
THIS MAY MEAN, UH, HAVING US EXPAND OUR ORDER OR EXPAND, UH, ENFORCEMENT, UM, IN A WAY THAT IS SUPPORTIVE OF THOSE BUSINESSES.
I KNOW THAT SOUNDS LIKE AN OXYMORON, EXPANDED ENFORCEMENT, THAT'S SUPPORTIVE OF, OF BUSINESSES, BUT I THINK WHAT WE WANNA MAKE SURE IS THAT BECAUSE THE HEALTH CONDITIONS AREN'T THERE YET, THE INDICATORS ARE NOT THERE YET.
WE NEED TO BE ABSOLUTELY CAREFUL WITH THE BUSINESSES THAT WE REOPEN.
SO, UM, I LOOK FORWARD TO SUPPORTING, UH, COUNCILWOMAN BRAN AND HER TEAM, UH, IN THAT EFFORT, WE'RE DEPENDING ON YOU.
UM, I WANNA POINT OUT A COUPLE OF OTHER DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE WORK THAT WAS DONE BY THESE TWO BODIES.
UM, NUMBER ONE IS, UH, AND, AND I THINK IT'S BEEN ALLUDED TO, THIS REPORT IS FAR MORE COMPREHENSIVE IN TERMS OF IDENTIFYING THE MEDICALLY VULNERABLE POPULATIONS THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT.
AND I THINK THAT'S REALLY IMPORTANT FOR US TO BE AWARE OF IN THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO.
[02:00:01]
OVER A CERTAIN AGE ARE MEDICALLY VULNERABLE, AS ARE THOSE THAT THE COMM COMMISSIONER MENTIONED, UH, JUST A SECOND AGO.PEOPLE WHO SUFFER FROM, UH, FROM OTHER, UH, DISEASES THAT WILL MAKE THAT THEIR COMPLICATIONS WITH, UH, WITH COVID 19 WORSE.
SO I'M REALLY PROUD, UH, THAT THE TEAM THAT WORKED ON THIS IS SO FAMILIAR WITH SAN ANTONIO, SO FAMILIAR WITH OUR HEALTH PROBLEMS, THAT THEY KNOW WHAT IT IS SPECIFICALLY WE NEED TO LOOK AT LOCALLY.
AND I DON'T BELIEVE ANY STATEWIDE REPORT COULD HAVE GIVEN US THE GUIDANCE THAT WE NEED FOR OUR LOCAL POPULATION.
UM, IN ADDITION, THERE'S ALSO CONSIDERATIONS ABOUT, UH, EQUITY.
THERE'S ALSO WARNING INDICATORS IN THIS REPORT, WHICH, WHICH THE DOCTOR MENTIONED.
IN OTHER WORDS, WHAT IF SOMETHING GOES WRONG AND WE NEED TO RATCHET BACK? IT WAS, I THINK, A SEMI IRRESPONSIBLE FOR THE STATE TO ISSUE ITS, UH, RECOMMENDATIONS WITHOUT ANY SORT OF HEALTH-BASED INDICATORS, WITHOUT, UH, ANY KIND OF WARNING INDICATORS THAT TELL US SOMETHING MIGHT BE GOING WRONG.
AND TO ASSUME THAT WHAT'S BEST FOR THE ENTIRE STATE IS BEST FOR OUR CITY.
SO I JUST CAN'T SAY HOW GRATEFUL I AM FOR THE WORK THAT DR.
TAYLOR AND THE TEAM LED AND, UH, FOR THE LEADERSHIP THAT YOU AND THE JUDGE HAVE PROVIDED, UH, IN THIS, IN THIS EFFORT.
UH, IN TERMS OF SOME OF THE, UH, EQUITY ISSUES RAISED BY COUNCILMAN GONZALEZ, I, UH, COMPLETELY, UM, UNDERSTAND AND AND AGREE, AND I THINK IT IS, IS REALLY GOING TO BE INCUMBENT UPON US, THE CITY TO TRY TO MAKE UP FOR SOME OF THOSE THINGS.
AND TO SOME EXTENT, YOU KNOW, WE, WE PUT OUT THE, THE MULTIMILLION DOLLAR PACKAGE TO ASSIST PEOPLE WHO ARE, UH, MOST FINANCIALLY IMPACTED BY THE COVID CRISIS.
AND THAT'S REALLY, UH, INCUMBENT UPON US TO DO THAT.
UM, ONE OTHER THING THAT SHE MENTIONED, UM, THAT I JUST WANT TO RECOMMEND FOR FUTURE ACTION IS THE COOLING CENTERS THAT WE USUALLY HAVE IN THE SUMMER MAY NOT BE AVAILABLE YET AS THE HEAT IS UPON US.
SO WE MUST THINK ABOUT HOW WE, UM, HOW WE CORRECT FOR THAT AND WHAT RESOURCES WE'RE GOING TO PROVIDE TO OUR COMMUNITY, UH, IN THAT SENSE.
UM, IN ADDITION, I KNOW THERE IS SOME ADDITIONAL OUTREACH GOING ON REGARDING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE THAT NEEDS TO CONTINUE TO, UM, TO MOVE FORWARD.
AND, UH, THE OUTREACH ON THAT NEEDS TO CONTINUE TO, TO MOVE ON AS WELL.
SO IN SUMMARY, I I DO WANT TO AGAIN, THANK, UM, THE DOCTOR AND THE TEAM.
YOU GUYS HAVE DONE, UH, AN EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT JOB.
AND I THINK WE HAVE A GUIDANCE THAT WILL REALLY TAKE US THROUGH THE, THE NEXT FEW MONTHS AND HELP US MAKE THE MOST INFORMED DECISIONS POSSIBLE.
I FEEL VERY LUCKY THAT ALL OF YOU ARE SAN ANTONIO RESIDENTS AND HAVE CHOSEN TO MAKE YOUR CAREERS HERE, UH, ESPECIALLY AT THIS TIME WHEN WE REALLY NEED YOU.
UH, COUNCIL MEMBER SANDOVAL, AND THANK YOU ALSO FOR, UM, GETTING ALL OF OUR QUESTIONS TOGETHER FOR THE TEAM.
I THINK IT REALLY, UH, HAS SPOKEN IN THE FINAL PRODUCT OF THE REPORT.
OKAY, WE'LL MOVE NOW TO COUNCIL MEMBER PIAS IN DISTRICT EIGHT.
MAYOR, UH, MAYOR, CAN YOU HEAR ME? WE HAVE YOU.
ONE, UM, ZOOS, ANDY, I KNOW THAT WE, WE COVERED THAT EARLIER AND, AND, UH, YOU'D SAID THAT THERE'S A, UM, YOU'RE, YOU'RE LOOKING AT THIS LIKE MAYBE A ZOO IS AN AMUSEMENT PARK AND ALL THAT.
I, I RECEIVED, UH, UH, WELL, AND SOMEBODY COMMENTED TO ME THAT, UH, ZOOS ARE ACTUALLY OUTDOOR MUSEUMS WITH LIVING EXHIBITS,
SO
UH, YOU KNOW, IT'S, UH, IT'S A LITTLE DIFFERENT.
THEY MAY BE SAFER, UM, AND, UH, IT'S A, UH, JUST BECAUSE THEY'RE OUTDOORS, BUT, UH, YOU KNOW, I'LL LEAVE THAT OUT THERE.
UM, I DON'T KNOW TO WHOM I NEED TO DIRECT THIS OBSERVATION.
UM, AND IT'S SOMETHING THAT, UH, I WISH I WAS SMART ENOUGH OF COME UP ON MY OWN.
UH, BUT IT'S A VERY, VERY SMART CONSTITUENT OF MINE WHO RAISED THE, UH, THE CONCERN.
I, I'VE BEEN LOOKING AT PAGES 31 THROUGH 35 OF, OF, UH, DR.
TAYLOR'S REPORT AND, UH, THAT VERY DISTINGUISHED GROUPS, UM, EXCELLENT WORK.
UM, AND 31 THROUGH 35 LOOKS AT EVERYTHING, UM, WITHIN THE BOXES OF ECONOMIC DISPARITY AND, AND RACE AND L G B T
[02:05:01]
Q.UM, BUT NOWHERE IN THERE IS MENTION OF GENDER.
UM, AND WHEN I START, WHEN I ACTUALLY DID JUST A SEARCH, THE DOCUMENT FOR THE WORD GENDER, IT ONLY COMES UP TWICE IN THE GLOSSARY ON PAGE 41.
UM, AND IT'S NOT EVEN ITS OWN STANDALONE WORD.
THE FIRST ONE IS TRANSGENDERED, AND THEN THE OTHER ONE IS CISGENDERED IN, UH, A DISCUSSION ABOUT L G B T Q I A.
AND SO THE REASON I I MENTION IT IS BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, WE KNOW THAT SAN ANTONIO'S HEALTH OUTCOMES, ESPECIALLY AS YOU KNOW, COMES TO, UH, WOMEN, UM, QUITE FRANKLY, THEY'RE ABYSMAL.
UH, AND THE, UH, AND, AND, AND I THINK THAT WE'VE GOT A RESPONSIBILITY TO SPEAK TO THAT ISSUE, ESPECIALLY WHEN IT COMES TO SOMETHING LIKE THIS.
I, I, I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE NOT FORGETTING THAT GENDER IS AN IMPORTANT CATEGORY.
UM, AND SO I'LL GIVE YOU AN EXAMPLE.
UM, AND AGAIN, I DIDN'T THINK OF THIS ONE.
MY VERY, VERY SMART, BRILLIANT CONSTITUENT DID.
BUT, UM, YOU KNOW, TESTING TIMES NEED TO BE SUITED TO WHEN PRIMARY CAREGIVERS ARE, UH, ABLE TO DO THIS.
AND USUALLY THOSE PRIMARY CAREGIVERS ARE WOMEN WITH KIDS.
AND, UH, SO, UM, I, I, I NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT, THAT THIS IS SOMETHING THAT WE GOT ON OUR RADAR SCREEN AND, UM, IT'S THAT WE'RE BEING DELIBERATE AND THOUGHTFUL, UH, NOT JUST IN TERMS OF THE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE COMPONENT OF THIS, BUT, UM, YOU KNOW, WOMEN CARRY A VERY SPECIFIC BURDEN THAT OFTENTIMES MEN DON'T, RIGHT? UM, AND SO, UH, ANYWAY, MARY, I WAS, I WAS GONNA TAKE, UM, MORE TIME THAN THAT, BUT I, I THINK MY POINT'S BEEN MADE AND I, I, IT REALLY WASN'T A QUESTION.
IF ANYBODY WANTS TO COMMENT ON IT, YOU'RE WELCOME TO, BUT THANKS, MAYOR.
I'D BE, I'D BE HAPPY TO COMMENT IF IT WOULD BE HELPFUL.
I I REALLY APPRECIATE THE COMMENT.
UM, COMMISSIONER PAEZ AND I, I THINK THAT IT IS TRUE THAT WE, WE HAVE THIS WHOLE FOCUS ON MARGINALIZED POPULATIONS, AND WE DO NOT TALK ABOUT GENDER, UM, EXCEPT FOR WHEN IT, UH, COMES TO THE LGBTQIA PLUS COMMUNITY.
I THINK ONE OF THE, ONE OF THE INTERESTING THINGS THAT WE HAVE SEEN THROUGHOUT THE C OVID 19 EPIDEMIC IS A REAL VARIATION OF DATA IN TERMS OF THE IMPACT OF COVID 19 IN MEN AND WOMEN ALONG GENDER LINES.
SO WHEN THE EPIDEMIC FIRST AROSE IN CHINA, IT ACTUALLY LOOKED LIKE MEN WERE MORE SEVERELY IMPACTED THAN WOMEN FROM THIS ILLNESS.
BUT THEN IT IS LIKELY, AND THIS IS ANOTHER THING WE DON'T MENTION IN THE REPORT, UM, THAT THAT WAS ASSOCIATED, THAT THE HIGHER BURDEN OF THE DISEASE AND MORTALITY IN MEN IN THE CHINESE EPIDEMIC WAS STRONGLY INFLUENCED BY THE PREVALENCE OF SMOKING IN MEN.
UH, WHEREAS MEN, WOMEN WERE SMOKING LESS.
SO FAR, IT DOES NOT LOOK LIKE IN THIS, I, I REALIZE I'M FOCUSING THIS ON SPECIFICALLY A HEALTH LENS, UH, UH, AN ILLNESS LENS, WHICH IS NOT WHAT WE WANNA THINK ABOUT.
UM, SO FAR IT DOES NOT LOOK LIKE THERE IS AN INEQUITY IN TERMS OF EITHER THE SEVERITY OF ILLNESS OR MORTALITY, UH, FOR WOMEN IN OVERALL IN THE COVID 19 EPIDEMIC.
HOWEVER, I WOULD DEFINITELY SAY THAT WE HAVE TO KEEP WATCHING IT, AND I THINK WE SHOULD BE LOOKING ALONG GENDER LINES, BOTH AT HOSPITALIZATIONS AND I C U BEDS AS SOMEONE WHO ATTENDS ON THE INPATIENT SERVICE AT, UH, I THINK THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE COULD EASILY LOOK AT IN SAN ANTONIO.
AND I ALSO THINK THE OTHER THINGS YOU MENTIONED IN TERMS OF THE DISPROPORTIONATE BURDEN OF A LOT OF THE STAY AT HOME, UH, SORT OF IMPACT ON WOMEN IN OUR SOCIETY.
IF YOU THINK ABOUT HOW MANY WOMEN I, I WORK WITH MANY OF THEM WHO ARE TRYING TO SIMULTANEOUSLY WORK AND HOMESCHOOL THEIR KIDS, UM, AT THE PROGRAM COORDINATOR FOR THE M D M P H PROGRAM AT UT HEALTH, WE HAVE HAD MANY CONFERENCE CALLS OVER THE LAST, UH, TWO MONTHS WITH HER KIDS IN HER LAP.
AND THIS IS HARD, AND I AM NOT SAYING THAT MEN ARE NOT CONTRIBUTING TO THE HOMESCHOOLING.
I CERTAINLY AM NOT GONNA GO THERE.
BUT WE KNOW THAT THESE, UH, THESE, AND A LOT OF CAREGIVING IS FOR WOMEN.
AND I DO AGREE THAT WE HAVE TO LOOK AT THAT.
AND THE OTHER PLACE THAT I WOULD, I WOULD SORT OF SHINE A LIGHT ON IS THINKING ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH AND WOMEN'S WELLNESS AND HEALTH, BECAUSE IT IS GOING TO BE, WE KNOW ACROSS THE BOARD THAT IT'S DIFFERENT.
UH, AND THERE ARE GENDER DIVISIONS IN TERMS OF HEALTH EQUITY AND MENTAL HEALTH.
AND SO WE WOULD ALSO WANNA THINK ABOUT THAT.
THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE HAVE, IT'S NOT IN THE REPORT.
UM, BUT IT'S SOMETHING THAT I, I TOTALLY AGREE AND I THINK IT WOULD BE IMPORTANT TO LOOK AT.
THANK YOU, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER PEZ, AND, AND WITH, UH, A
[02:10:01]
MOMENT OF REMAINING TIME, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER SANDOVAL, IF YOU'RE, UM, IF YOU'RE AT THE DESK, I'D ASK YOU TO, TO, UM, ANSWER THIS.'CAUSE WE HAD A, A GOOD CONVERSATION.
I THINK, UH, COUNCILMAN S UH, ADDRESSES SOME OF YOUR CONCERNS, UM, IN A FORWARD LOOKING WAY, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER.
ONE OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS IN THE REPORT IS, UH, IS REALLY ADDRESSING, UH, MARGINALIZED COMMUNITIES, BUT INEQUITY IN GENERAL, UH, WHEN IT COMES TO HEALTH.
AND NOT ONLY DOES THE REPORT RECOGNIZE THAT THAT IS AN ISSUE AND THAT WE'RE, THAT IT'S IMPACTING THE OUTCOMES WE SEE ON COVID 19.
UM, BUT THAT THIS IS ALWAYS AN UNDERLYING ISSUE IN OUR CITY.
AND THAT NOW IS THE TIME TO ADDRESS IT.
SO THERE'S A, A RECOMMENDATION TO PUT TOGETHER, UM, A HEALTH EQUITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE.
I'M NOT SURE IF I'VE GOT THE, THE TERMS RIGHT, BUT BASICALLY TO ADVISE US ON HOW WE CAN ADDRESS HEALTH EQUITY, NOT JUST IN THE FACE OF COVID 19, BUT FOREVER.
BECAUSE THESE UNDERLYING PROBLEMS, HEALTH PROBLEMS THAT WE HAVE, RIGHT, THAT THE MEDICAL RISK PROBLEMS, UM, DON'T ONLY AFFECT US WHEN COVID 19 COMES AROUND, BUT WHENEVER ANYTHING ELSE COMES AROUND TOO.
SO I'M VERY PROUD TO SAY THAT COUNCILWOMAN ANDREW SULLIVAN, AND MYSELF ARE GOING TO BEGIN THE PLANNING PROCESS FOR WHAT THAT COMMITTEE'S GOING TO LOOK LIKE.
OF COURSE, ALL COMMENTS ARE WELCOME.
WE'RE JUST STARTING OUR BRAINSTORMING PROCESS RIGHT NOW.
UH, Z WILL WILL, OF COURSE, BE GUIDING US, UH, WITH THAT.
SO THAT'S A RECOMMENDATION THAT I DO NOT THINK WE NEED TO WAIT ON FOR, FOR THE 14 DAYS TO, TO BE MET.
WE'LL GET TO WORK ON THAT RIGHT AWAY.
UM, MAY COUNCILWOMAN BEFORE WE WE MOVE ON THAT SUBJECT.
THIS IS, UH, COMMISSIONER CALVERT.
THERE'S ONE OTHER COMMUNITY THAT, UM, UH, MAY NEED TO RESERVE FURTHER EXPLORATION IN, IN ADDITION TO THE GENDER, UM, AND HISPANIC AND AFRICAN-AMERICAN COMMUNITIES.
UM, THERE'S AN ARTICLE IN THE LOS ANGELES TIMES TALKING ABOUT, UM, ULTRA ORTHODOX JEWS, UH, HAVING A HIGHER, UH, DEATH RATE AND EXPOSURE RATE, AND ALSO ANOTHER ONE FROM THE UK, A DISPROPORTIONATE DEATH RATE, UM, IN JEWS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM.
UM, AND SO I JUST WANNA, YOU KNOW, BRING THAT OUT IN PARTICULAR, UH, COUNCILMAN AYAS, UH, WITH THE, UH, JEWISH FEDERATION LOCATED WITHIN HIS DISTRICT.
UM, JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT THE, UH, EQUITY COMMITTEE TAKES A LOOK AT THOSE ISSUES AND HOW WE CAN HELP, UH, IF THERE IS AN ISSUE HERE IN SAN ANTONIO.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH, COMMISSIONER.
WE'RE NOW, UH, IN DISTRICT NINE.
WE'RE NOT PICKING UP YOUR AUDIO.
OKAY, WE'RE, WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO COME BACK, UH, COME BACK TO COUNCIL MEMBER COURAGE.
UM, APOLOGIZE FOR THE TECHNICAL DIFFICULTY THERE.
UM, LET'S GO TO COUNCIL MEMBER PERRY, DISTRICT DISTRICT 10 COUNCIL, AND THEN WE'RE GONNA WORK ON COUNCIL MEMBER KURT'S AUDIO.
TAYLOR, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR PUTTING THIS REPORT TOGETHER, VERY THOROUGH AND, UM, YOU KNOW, A LOT OF GOOD INFORMATION, A LOT OF GOOD DETAILS AND DATA AS WELL.
SO THANK Y'ALL FOR PUTTING THAT TOGETHER AND TAKING THAT AMOUNT OF TIME COMPRESSED.
'CAUSE YOU DIDN'T HAVE A LOT OF TIME TO PUT THIS TOGETHER.
SO I'M SURE Y'ALL DID A LOT OF, UH, UM, TALKING AND, AND WORKING TOGETHER TO COME UP WITH THIS REPORT.
THERE'S BEEN A FEW COMMENTS ABOUT, YOU KNOW, THE STATE AND WHAT THEY HAVE COME UP WITH.
UM, DID Y'ALL EVER GET A CHANCE TO DISCUSS THIS WITH THE STATE MEDICAL EXPERTS AT ALL IN, IN, UH, WHILE Y'ALL WERE DEVELOPING YOUR REPORT? SO, NO, UNFORTUNATELY WE DID NOT.
UM, HAVE Y'ALL PROVIDED A DRAFT OR A FINAL COPY TO THE STATE OF WHAT, WHAT Y'ALL CAME UP WITH? I WOULD DEFER TO THE, UH, LIAISON, I, I, THE DRAFT, THE COPY IS NOW PUBLICLY AVAILABLE, BUT I, I BELIEVE THAT IT DID GET COMMUNICATED OF THE POLITICAL CHAIN AS IT WERE, COUNCIL MEMBER.
UM, I COMMUNICATED, UH, THAT WE WERE ALMOST TO FINAL WITH, UH, DR.
[02:15:01]
ON THE, ON THE, UH, STATE TEAM ON SUNDAY.AND SO WE'LL BE SENDING THIS UP.
I DIDN'T WANT TO SEND IT UP WITHOUT, UH, OUR FULL BRIEFING OF THE COUNCILS ON THE COURT FIRST.
UM, YOU KNOW, I'M, I'M JUST LOOKING AT THIS FROM, UM, YOUR POINT OF VIEW OR THE MEDICAL, MEDICAL COMMUNITY'S POINT OF VIEW.
UM, YOU KNOW, ANYTIME YOU GET A GROUP OF PROFESSIONALS, WHETHER IT'S DOCTORS, LAWYERS, ENGINEERS OR WHATEVER, AND YOU PUT 'EM IN SEPARATE ROOMS, THEY'RE NOT GONNA COME UP WITH THE SAME ANSWERS.
RIGHT? EVERYBODY'S GOING TO HAVE A DIFFERENT OPINION.
EVERYBODY'S GONNA LOOK, BE LOOKING AT THE DATA DIFFERENTLY.
SO, UH, I GUESS WHAT I'M GETTING TO HERE, YOU, YOU'VE COME UP WITH THIS REPORT BASED ON DATA.
YOU'VE PUBLISHED THAT INFORMATION AND YOU HAVE RECOMMENDATIONS IN, IN THE REPORT.
AND I WOULD DARE SAY THAT THE STATE ALSO HAD MEDICAL EXPERTS, UM, LOOKING AT WHAT THEY HAVE COME UP WITH AT THIS POINT, WHICH WAS THE, UM, YOU KNOW, BACK TO WORK TEXAS PLAN, UH, THAT THE GOVERNOR HAS PUBLISHED AND, AND, UH, BRIEFED ON ON MONDAY.
SO, UM, WITH THAT BEING SAID, I KNOW THERE'S, AND COMMISSIONER RODRIGUEZ TALKED ABOUT IT A LITTLE BIT ALSO, UM, ABOUT THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN YOUR PLAN AND WHAT THE GOVERNOR, UH, HAS COME OUT WITH ON, ON THE PHASING.
UH, BASED ON WHAT YOU'VE SEEN SO FAR, ARE YOU SUPPORT WHAT THE GOVERNOR HAS COME OUT WITH AT THIS POINT? SO I AM, I'M NOT A GREAT EXPERT IN THE GOVERNOR'S PLAN SINCE IT CAME OUT YESTERDAY, AND I'VE, I'VE BEEN TRYING TO READ IT.
I THINK THE, THERE IS ACTUALLY A LOT OF ALIGNMENT.
UM, I WOULD SAY WE DID LOOK AT THE FEDERAL PLAN, WHICH HAS THE PHASE, WHICH HAS BASICALLY EXACTLY THE SAME PHASES THAT ARE IN OUR GUIDANCE.
AND SO OUR, I WOULD SAY THAT THE, THE TEXAS, UH, PHASES ARE A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT FROM THE FEDERAL PLAN AND, AND OUR GUIDANCE.
THE, I THINK ONE OF THE THINGS, AND IT'S BEEN MENTIONED BEFORE THAT WOULD BE IT'S CONCERNING TO THE TEAM, IS THE, THE WAY THAT THE GOVERNOR'S REPORT IS CONSTRUCTED IN TERMS OF, I THINK IT GIVES GREAT GUIDANCE.
AND THERE ARE A LOT OF, I MEAN, I, I LOOKED AT THE FOLKS WHO ARE ON THE MEDICAL TEAM, AND THESE ARE GREAT PEOPLE, AND I'M SURE THEY HAD MANY OF THE SAME DISCUSSIONS.
AND I THINK MY DISADVANTAGE IS THAT I CAN'T, I DON'T SEE ALL THE DETAILS THAT THEY HAVE REVIEWED, BUT I'M SURE THEY'RE USING MODELS JUST AS WE DID AND ALL OF THOSE THINGS.
I, I AM, I THINK THE, THE THINGS, THE TWO THINGS THAT STOOD OUT FOR ME ABOUT THE GOVERNOR'S REPORT ARE ONE, THAT IT ALIGNS WITH OURS IN A LOT OF WAYS.
UM, AND THE SECOND THAT I, THERE'S, THERE'S NOT THIS PROCESS OF SORT OF WARNING INDICATORS OR INDICATORS IN THE GOVERNOR'S REPORT, AS A DATA-DRIVEN, UH, TEAM, WE ALL THOUGHT THAT THOSE WERE REALLY IMPORTANT BECAUSE WE'RE GONNA, AND IT'S MENTIONED IN THE GOVERNOR'S REPORT, BUT WE THOUGHT THAT WE SHOULD BE VERY, AND WE WOULD RECOMMEND TO THE CITY AND THE COUNTY, THAT WE'D BE VERY TRANSPARENT TO THE PUBLIC ABOUT WHAT WOULD MAKE US CHANGE OUR CURRENT, UH, STATUS, EITHER FORWARD OR BACK SO THAT EVERYBODY CAN GET ON BOARD.
AND EVERYBODY KNOWS, BECAUSE I THINK THERE ARE BIG DIFFERENCES, YOU KNOW, IF ONE, IF THERE IS A, A SPECIFIC OUTBREAK IN THE JAIL, FOR EXAMPLE, THAT DOES NOT NECESSARILY MEAN THAT WE NEED TO THEN CLOSE ZOO, RIGHT? SO IT'S IMPORTANT THAT WE BE DATA DRIVEN.
UM, AND I THINK ACKNOWLEDGING THAT WAS SOMETHING THAT WE, ON THE TEAM FELT WAS REALLY IMPORTANT.
AND SO THAT IS ACTUALLY THE FIRST SECTION OF OUR, OUR GUIDANCE.
UM, AND THAT IS DEFINITELY A DIFFERENCE, I WOULD SAY, BETWEEN THE GOVERNOR, THE STATE PLAN AND, AND OUR, OUR GUIDANCE.
AND I WOULD EMPHASIZE, I KEEP SAYING GUIDANCE BECAUSE OURS IS, THIS IS REALLY HEALTH GUIDANCE, SO, RIGHT, RIGHT.
I MEAN, UH, FROM THE PRESIDENT'S OFFICE DOWN THROUGH E S H SS, UH, THE C D C, AND NOW, NOW WITH YOUR, YOUR GROUP ON THE MEDICAL SIDE, THERE'S TONS OF DOCTORS LOOKING AT THIS AND EVALUATING IT AND COMING UP WITH DATA, UH, AND TRYING TO INTERPRET THAT AND COME UP WITH RECOMMENDATIONS.
AT THIS POINT, WE STILL DON'T EVEN HAVE ALL THE ANSWERS TO THIS VIRUS TO BEGIN WITH.
SO, UM, I, I JUST, YOU KNOW, WHEN I, WHEN I HEAR THAT THE GOVERNOR'S OFFICE, OR EVEN FURTHER UP THE LINE THAT DOESN'T KNOW SAN ANTONIO, THEY'RE LOOKING AT A MUCH LARGER PICTURE, BUT THEY ARE PROVIDING, UM, FOUR EXCEPTIONS FOR THOSE CITIES OR COUNTIES THAT HAVE LESS THAN X NUMBER OF CASES.
SO THEY ARE COMPARTMENTALIZING THIS, UM, BASED ON, BASED ON THE POPULATION AND THE, AND THE DISEASE ITSELF.
[02:20:01]
UM, I, I WOULD SAY THAT I THINK THE, THE GOVERNOR IS ON, ON POINT ON THIS AND, UH, HE'S HAD THE MEDICAL COMMUNITY EVALUATING THIS AS MUCH AS WE HAVE HERE IN SAN ANTONIO AND THE COUNTY.SO, UM, THAT'S JUST MY COMMENTS ON THIS, AND I WANTED TO GET YOUR, YOUR TAKE ON WHETHER YOU AGREE WITH THE, WITH THE GOVERNOR'S REPORT OR IF YOU HAVE ANY MAJOR CONCERNS OR EXCEPTIONS TO THE, UH, GOVERNOR'S REPORT.
AND, AND YOU'VE KIND OF EXPOUNDED ON THAT.
UH, WE'RE ALWAYS LOOKING FOR, UH, WHAT WE SHOULD BE LOOKING IN THE FUTURE AND, UH, MAKING SURE THAT WE'RE ON TASK AND WE'RE CONTINUING TO SHOW THOSE GOOD RESULTS.
AND IF THERE ARE INDICATORS OUT THERE THAT SHOW WE'RE GOING IN THE WRONG DIRECTION, THEN YES, WE HAVE ABSOLUTELY NEED TO, UM, REACT TO THAT.
SO, UH, THANK Y'ALL AGAIN FOR ALL YOUR GOOD WORK AND, AND, UH, DATA-DRIVEN RECOMMENDATIONS.
AND, AND WE'LL, UH, WE'LL SEE WHERE THIS GOES.
AND I'M, UH, I WILL, I WILL AT THIS POINT CERTAINLY BE SUPPORTING WHAT THE GOVERNOR CAME OUT WITH, UM, IN HIS RECOMMENDATIONS AND GUIDANCE AND, UM, POLICY THAT, UM, STATE RULES.
SO WITH THAT, THANK YOU VERY MUCH, SIR.
UM, I'M GONNA TRY NOW, UH, GOING BACKWARD TO COUNCIL MEMBER COURAGE.
UH, SEE IF HE'S GOT A NEW LINE.
ARE YOU WITH US? OH, DAN, COUNCIL MEMBER COURAGE.
I, I SEE YOU ON THERE, BUT YOU'RE STILL MUTED.
TAYLOR AND ALL THE PEOPLE WHO SERVED ON THAT COMMITTEE.
UH, THEY DID, UM, A REALLY, REALLY DETAILED EXPLANATION OF WHAT WE NEED TO BE LOOKING AT, ESPECIALLY GOING FORWARD.
AND, UH, I APPRECIATE THAT VERY MUCH.
UH, ONE THING I, I DIDN'T SEE THOUGH WAS AN EMPHASIS ON INCREASING, UH, BROAD BASED TESTING ACROSS THE COMMUNITY.
UH, AND I'VE BEEN AN ADVOCATE FOR THIS SINCE THE VERY BEGINNING BECAUSE IF, IF WE'RE ONLY TESTING THOSE WHO HAVE SYMPTOMS, WE REALLY DON'T KNOW THE EXTENT OF, UH, INFECTION ACROSS THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY.
AND I THINK IF PEOPLE DID UNDERSTAND WHAT THAT RATE OF INFECTION WAS WITHIN THE COMMUNITY OF PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT SHOWING ANY KIND OF, UH, SYMPTOM, I THINK THEY'D BE WILLING TO BE MUCH MORE CAUTIOUS ABOUT THEIR OWN HEALTH AND THE HEALTH OF OTHERS IN THE COMMUNITY, AND MUCH MORE WILLING TO STAY THE COURSE THAT WE'VE LAID OUT ABOUT STAYING HOME, WORKING FROM HOME.
UH, AND, AND I DON'T KNOW IF THERE'S A RESOLUTION TO THAT.
I KNOW A LOT OF WHAT THEY'VE PUT TOGETHER IS GONNA BE VERY USEFUL FOR THE, UH, ECONOMIC TRANSITION TEAM AND TRYING TO DEVELOP, UH, A WAY OF SCALING THE OPENING OF A LOT OF BUSINESSES.
I, I UNDERSTAND WHAT THE GOVERNOR HAS SAID, AND I THINK WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF WHAT HE'S SAID, UH, HE'S PROVIDED PRETTY SOUND DIRECTION FOR GOING FORWARD.
BUT I THINK LOCALLY WE NEED TO EMPHASIZE SOME OF THE THINGS THAT WE THINK ARE AS IMPORTANT THAT MAYBE HE DIDN'T EMPHASIZE.
FOR EXAMPLE, HE DID NOT EMPHASIZE MANDATORY WEARING OF MASKS.
NOW I REALIZE HIS ORDER DOESN'T ALLOW US TO DO THAT.
BUT I THINK WE NEED TO CONTINUE TO STRONGLY EMPHASIZE PEOPLE SHOULD WEAR MASKS SO THAT THEY CAN, THEY PROTECT THEMSELVES AS WELL AS OUR NEIGHBORS.
UH, I THINK THAT, UH, HE DOESN'T PARTICULARLY SAY THAT EVERYBODY WHO WORKS IN A STORE SHOULD GET TESTED BEFORE THEY GO TO WORK, WHICH IS SOMETHING I WOULD'VE THOUGHT WOULD BE A SMART MOVE SO THAT WE'RE SURE WE DON'T HAVE PEOPLE WORKING IN STORES WHO MAY BE TRANSMITTING THE VIRUS.
HE HAS SAID THAT THEY SHOULD BE, THEIR HEALTH SHOULD BE CHECKED.
WELL, YOU KNOW, IF, IF OWNERS WILL TAKE THE RESPONSIBILITY OF REALLY WE REACHING OUT TO OUR HEALTH DEPARTMENT AND ENSURING THEIR WORKERS GOING BACK TO WORKER HEALTHY, THAT GOES A LONG WAY.
AND ENSURING THE HEALTH OF EVERYBODY IN THE PUBLIC, UH, I THINK IT'S STILL INCUMBENT UPON BUSINESSES IF THEY CHOOSE TO, TO SAY, WE WANNA MAKE SURE ANYONE COMING INTO OUR BUSINESS IS PROTECTED.
IT IS A MANDATED BY THE GOVERNMENT GOVERNOR, BUT IT SEEMS RIGHT NOW TO BE A SMART MOVE FOR THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY TO MAKE, I RECOGNIZE THEY WANT CUSTOMERS TO COME BACK, BUT IF, IF
[02:25:01]
THE CUSTOMERS DON'T FEEL SAFE, IF THEY GO INTO BUSINESSES WHERE HALF THE PEOPLE AREN'T WEARING MASKS, THEY MAY NOT COME BACK.UH, AND I THINK MORE AND MORE PEOPLE I SEE ARE GETTING USED TO THAT IDEA AND ARE ACCEPTING THAT IDEA.
IT'S NOT AN INFRINGEMENT ON THEIR FREEDOM.
THEY CAN STILL COME AND GO UNDER THE REGULATIONS THAT THE GOVERNOR SET OUT, THE PRESIDENT SET OUT, AND THAT WE'VE SET OUT.
UH, AND WE'RE OPENING MORE OPPORTUNITIES FOR THAT, BUT IT SIMPLY MAKES HEALTH SENSE.
SO I KNOW THOSE ARE THE, SOME OF THE THINGS THAT AREN'T DIRECTLY COVERED.
AND I KNOW THAT WE'RE LIMITED IN WHAT WE CAN DO, BUT I KNOW THAT A LOT OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS IN THIS HEALTH REPORT REVOLVE AROUND SOME OF THOSE VERY ISSUES.
AND I HOPE, AS I SAID, THE ORGANIZATION, THE, UH, COMMITTEE THAT'S LOOKING AT REOPENING OUR BUSINESS AND SETTING OUT GUIDELINES OR LOOKING FOR DIRECTIONS TO ADVISE PEOPLE TO GO IN AS THEY OPEN UP THEIR BUSINESS, WE'LL CONSIDER SOME OF THESE THINGS.
UH, AND ALSO IT'S THE CAREFUL MONITORING OF WHAT GOES ON AS WE OPEN THESE BUSINESSES AND, AND HOW WE SEE IF WE SEE AN UPTICK, AND THEN WHAT STEPS WE CAN TAKE.
UH, AND I THINK IT'S GONNA NOW BE INCUMBENT UPON THE GOVERNOR BECAUSE HE SET SOME PRETTY STRONG LIMITS ON WHAT THE CITIES CAN DO.
BUT I HOPE WE'LL ALL BE PAYING ATTENTION TO THAT.
AND REALLY, UH, IT'S JUST THE COMMENTS THAT I WANTED TO MAKE, UH, SOME OF MY OBSERVATIONS.
AND I HOPE AS WE GO FORWARD, WE'RE GOING TO CONTINUE TO GO FORWARD SAFELY.
UH, AND AGAIN, I APPRECIATE THE WORK THAT WENDY'S DONE.
SO I DUNNO IF AHEAD, JOHN, SORRY, IT'S BARBARA.
I DON'T KNOW IF, SO THANK YOU SO MUCH COUNCILMAN CUR.
WE'RE VERY PLEASED THAT THIS, UH, REPORT IS, UH, YOU FEEL LIKE IT WILL BE USEFUL AND THAT IT'LL BE USEFUL FOR THE ECONOMIC TRANSITION TEAM.
I DID WANNA DRAW YOUR ATTENTION TO PAGE 15 OF THE REPORT WHERE WE SPECIFICALLY TALK ABOUT ASYMPTOMATIC, UH, TESTING AND EFFORTS TO INCREASE ASYMPTOMATIC TESTING.
'CAUSE THAT IS SOMETHING THAT EVERYBODY ON THE TEAM FEELS STRONGLY ABOUT.
AND SO WE DO FEEL LIKE ASYMPTOMATIC TESTING IS SOMETHING THAT NEEDS HAPPEN.
IT IS ACTUALLY ALREADY STARTING TO HAPPEN IN MANY HOSPITAL SETTINGS, BUT THERE ARE OTHER PLACES THAT IT NEEDS TO HAPPEN.
AND I THINK METRO HEALTH PUT TOGETHER A REALLY NICE PROPOSAL FOR A COLLABORATION SO THAT WE COULD ACTUALLY DO MORE ASYMPTOMATIC TESTING WITHIN OUR COMMUNITY.
AND THEN WITH REGARDS TO THE EMPLOYEES AND THE EMPLOYERS, AS YOU KNOW, WE REALLY WANTED TO LEAVE, UM, SOME OF THE OPERATIONAL OPERATIONALIZATION OF THIS, RECOGNIZING OUR ROLE AS HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS AND NOT AS BUSINESS LEADERS TO THE, UH, ECONOMIC TRANSITION TEAM.
BUT WE DID INCLUDE A SECTION ON GUIDANCE FOR EMPLOYEES AND EMPLOYERS BASED ON THEIR FEEDBACK.
AND IN PARTICULAR, IT MEANT IT DOESN'T MENTION TESTING PEOPLE BEFORE THEY GO TO WORK, BUT DEFINITELY SCREENING AS A RECOMMENDATION.
AND AS SOMEONE WHO GETS SCREENED MULTIPLE TIMES A DAY, AS I WALK INTO UC HEALTH OR, OR UNIVERSITY HEALTH SYSTEM, I, UH, I AM VERY PRO THAT PRACTICE.
IT MAKES ME FEEL SAFER AT WORK, QUITE FRANKLY.
SO THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR COMMENTS.
ALRIGHT, THIS IS, UH, THIS BRINGS US TO THE END OF OUR DISCUSSION.
I'M GONNA TURN IT OVER NOW TO JUDGE NELSON WOLF.
THANK YOU MAYOR, AND THANKS FOR THE DISCUSSION.
UH, I PICKED UP A LOT OF GOOD THOUGHTS FROM THE COUNCIL AND THE, UH, COMMISSIONER'S, UH, UH, TALKS AS WE WENT ALONG.
UH, I THINK, UH, YOU KNOW, THE MAYOR AND I WILL BE HAVING TO MEET WITH THE LAWYERS AND FIGURING OUT WHAT WE CAN DO AND CANNOT DO TO STRENGTHEN THE DEAL.
UM, AND, AND WE WILL HAVE TO ACT FAIRLY QUICK BECAUSE OUR CURRENT ORDER EXPIRES, UM, AT THE END OF, UH, THURSDAY I THINK.
SO WE'RE GONNA BE MOVING FORWARD WITH THAT.
THERE'S A LOT OF CONFUSION ON A NUMBER OF THINGS.
WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE'RE DOING BETTER? AND I THINK WHAT DAWN SHOWED ON THE, ON THE, UH, DEAL TODAY IS REALLY IMPORTANT FOR ALL OF US TO GET TO UNDERSTAND.
AND THAT TAKES US A BETTER DIRECTION OF WHERE WE'RE GOING.
THAT INCLUDES HOSPITAL USE, THAT INCLUDES HOW MANY VENTILATORS, THAT INCLUDES, WHAT PERCENT OF PEOPLE ARE POSITIVE, IS THAT GOING UP OR GOING DOWN? IT INCLUDES THE DOUBLING OF TIME.
SO THAT PIECE IS REALLY IMPORTANT FOR US TO BE ABLE TO MEASURE HOW WE'RE GOING FROM DAY TO DAY.
AND I WOULD ENCOURAGE DON AND HER TEAM TO CONTINUE TO, UM, WORK ON THAT.
WE'LL BE LOOKING FORWARD TO THE ECONOMIC, UM, TEAM'S REPORT AND HOW VARIOUS BUSINESSES OUGHT TO, UH, WORK.
UH, BUT AS WE GO FORWARD, IT'S GONNA BE EXTREMELY IMPORTANT THAT WE HAVE A GOOD RELATIONSHIP WITH THE EMPLOYERS AND THAT THEY INSTITUTE THE RIGHT THINGS IN THEIR BUSINESS TO PROTECT THEIR
[02:30:01]
CUSTOMERS AND TO PROTECT THEIR, THEIR EMPLOYEES.WE ALSO NEED TO KNOW MORE ABOUT ASYMPTOMATIC TESTING.
UH, WE DON'T KNOW HOW THAT PERSON REALLY TRANS, TRANS TRANSMITS THAT, UH, DISEASE.
WE KNOW HOW A SYMPTOMATIC PERSON DOES, BUT THERE'S SOME QUESTIONS OF HOW DOES THAT, HOW DOES HE TRANSPORT IT AND HOW HE SHOULD BE HANDLED DIFFERENT IF HE DOES TEST POSITIVE THAN ONE WITH SYMPTOMS. SO WE GOT A LOT OF WORK TO DO YET.
AND, UH, THANK AGAIN TO THE, UH, HEALTH TEAM THAT DID A GREAT JOB AND, UH, WE'LL MOVE FORWARD FROM HERE.
UM, AND AGAIN, THANK YOU TO THE COMMISSIONER'S COURT AS WELL AS OUR CITY COUNCIL.
UM, UH, A COUPLE LAST COMMENTS FROM ME.
UM, AS WE MOVE FORWARD AND WE THINK ABOUT THE NEW CONDITIONS, UH, THAT WILL BE LIVING UNDER, UH, KNOWING THAT IT IS A MIX OF LOCAL AND STATE GUIDANCE, UH, SOME OF WHICH WE DO NOT HAVE CONTROL OVER, UH, IT LEADS ME TO BACK TO WHERE I THINK THIS IS ALL ACTUALLY HAPPENING.
AND THE SUCCESS OF OUR ABILITY TO FLATTEN THE CURVE AND AND SLOW THE SPREAD OF THIS VIRUS ULTIMATELY HAS DEPENDED ON OUR COMMUNITY.
UH, TAKING ACTION ON BEHALF OF THEIR NEIGHBORS, UM, EACH INDIVIDUAL ACTION, UH, TO STAY AT HOME, UH, WEAR A MASK, UH, DO THE THINGS THAT ARE NECESSARY TO PROTECT HEALTH AND SAFETY OF, OF YOUR FAMILY AND THOSE AROUND YOU HAS BEEN CRITICAL TO OUR SUCCESS.
SO I THINK MOVING FORWARD, UH, REGARDLESS OF WHAT HAPPENS TO THE STATE, UM, WE CAN DEPEND ON THAT, UH, KNOWING THAT IT IS OUR JOB TO PROVIDE THE DATA AND THE INFORMATION TIMELY AND A TRANSPARENT MANNER AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE SO PEOPLE CAN MAKE THOSE INFORMED DECISIONS.
UH, SOME OF THAT'S NOT EASY TO DO AND WE'VE ACKNOWLEDGED THAT WE HAVEN'T ALWAYS GOTTEN IT RIGHT.
BUT I APPRECIATE THE WORK OF EVERYONE IN METRO HEALTH AND THE COURT AND THE COUNCIL HELPING DIRECT THAT, UH, TO WHERE WE ARE TODAY.
IT'S GONNA CONTINUE TO BE A WORK IN PROGRESS.
NONE OF US HAVE BEEN THROUGH THIS BEFORE, BUT SO LONG AS WE USE THAT AS A STANDARD, I THINK WE ARE PUTTING OUR COMMUNITY IN THE BEST POSITION POSSIBLE TO GET THROUGH THIS PANDEMIC HEALTHILY, UH, AND IN A POSITION FOR LONG-TERM SUCCESS FOR OUR COMMUNITY.
SO, UH, WITH THAT, THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH, UH, FOR A GREAT DISCUSSION.
UH, THE TIME IS 3 33 AND THIS JOINT MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL AND THE COMMISSIONER'S COURT IS HERE ADJOURNED.