Christ Yoder
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LISBON — The Columbiana County Health District Advisory Board did not reach a quorum on Monday, but officials who showed up heard an update on health district activities, including the latest COVID-19 numbers.
Of 29 members representing each township and village served by the health district, as well as a county commissioner, only 14 attended the special meeting called to confirm the contract for services between the town of Columbiana and the county health district. This was one short of quorum, so no votes could be taken on the contract.
The meeting was rescheduled for 6 p.m. Sept. 19 at the Health Department, 7360 State Route 45.
County Health Commissioner Wes Vins took the opportunity to share some information, showing a graph and numbers for 2,022 cases of COVID-19 in the county. From January 1 to September 8, the total number of cases was 7,553, the total number of hospitalizations was 156 and the total number of deaths was 78. The graph showed that the highest figures were in January, then the numbers dropped.
In the last 30 days, from August 8 to September 8, the number of COVID-19 cases was 774, the number of hospitalizations was 13 and there was only one death.
“We know there are a lot of tests going on that are not being reported,” Vins said.
The health department has free test kits. There is also an upcoming clinic for the primary and booster COVID vaccine and the flu shot. Details will be announced on Wednesday.
For other local public health updates, Vins said there are no cases of monkeypox in the county and there is no vaccine available in the county for monkeypox. monkey.
There has been a decrease in back-to-school vaccines sought, in part because he thinks people have gotten out of the habit because of the pandemic, but the health department has back-to-school vaccines available for everyone who needs it.
He noted that dog kennel waste should be landfilled, according to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. In a matter of dogs and cats, he announced that a rabies vaccination clinic was being hosted by the department on October 8 at the county vocational and technical center. Dogs and cats must be kept on a leash.
Vins said the health department collected mosquitoes and tested for West Nile virus and it was detected in the county. Powassan virus was first detected in Ohio County, but tests on collected ticks were negative for Powassan and positive for several strains of Lyme disease.
Wines encouraged residents to protect themselves against West Nile and Lyme diseases. Guidance regarding mosquitoes and ticks can be found on the district’s website at columbiana-health.org, along with the results of the recent Community Health Assessment.
Prior to the meeting, the plaque presented to the now-accredited county health district was passed around the room for administrators to view.
“We are really proud of our accreditation. A lot of work has been done in there,” Vins said.
For the final slide of the presentation, he showed a table outlining the per capita cost for the county health district and other local health districts in the region, including the towns of Salem and East Liverpool. For the county, the inland tax mile amount was $383,000 in 2021. This is tax money used for health district general fund operations, not including grants. For the county, the per capita cost equals $5.06 based on a population of 101,877.
“I think we have pretty good value here in Columbiana County,” he said, adding that the dollars are “very profitable.”
According to the table, for Salem, with a population of 11,915 and a domestic tax mile of $61,515, the cost per resident equals $5.16. For East Liverpool, with a population of 9,958 and a domestic tax mile of $122,904, the cost per resident works out to $12.34.
