10/14/2021 BOARD OF HEALTH Minutes

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Town of Mashpee 16 Great Neck Road North Mashpee, Massachusetts 02649 BOARD OF HEALTH - PUBLIC SESSION Mashpee Town Hall — OCKWAY MEETING ROOM Minutes of the Meeting of October 14, 2021 Board Members Present: Member Absent: Also Present: Brian Baumgaertel, Chair Glen Harrington, Health Agent Ernest Virgilio, Vice -Chair Christine Willander, Asst. Health Agent Kripani Patel, Clerk Chair Brian Baumgaertel called the Board of Health meeting to order at 6:00 PM. OLD BUSINESS 1. COVID-19 update. Mr. Harrington commented that at the last meeting on September 23, 2021, the board discussed mask mandated for the town and the schools. There were many residents who commented about the children wearing masks in the schools. No decision was made to change the vote that supported the schools mask policy. No changes are recommended at this time for either the town or the schools. Department of early and Secondary Education will make a determination on November 1, 2021 about the masks in schools. The Health Agent and Assistant Health Agent made an attempt to get a COVID clinic set up at Cape Cod Coffee and the owner was willing but there was not enough support from the Fire Department or CHC to obtain staffing of the clinic. They had good reason as the two clinics the FD put together only did 12 people. The calls for testing and the boosters have slowed as well. The positivity rate has fluctuated over the last few weeks but there have been a couple of clusters that have fueled the numbers. The cases should go down again as the two large clusters have resolved themselves. Surrounding towns have seen their numbers drop down and the same should happen in Mashpee. The State Contact Tracing Collaborative is scheduled to be disbanded by the end of December and they will not take any more cases after November 30th. That means that we will have to go back to the VNA, who is admittedly overwhelmed, or find another faction to do the contact tracing. On the health agent conference calls there has been talk of eliminating the contact tracing. It is not clear if that is coming from DPH. NEW BUSINESS i. Review and approval of Meeting Minutes- May 6, 2021, June 17, 2021 and September 23, 2021 Regular Sessions-