2. 20-421 Incident Management Team's (IMT) Recommendation to an Emergency Ordinance Establishing Regulations to Prevent the Spread of the Novel Coronavirus Commonly Known as COVID-19.
I strongly oppose the notion that our BOS should revert our community back to Phase 2. The data they are using to support their recommendation is inaccurate and misleading. We need the BOS to come up with resolutions not create more roadblocks. Get to work.
Positive tests are not a reliable metric on which to base policy decisions. We have greatly increased testing in our area and we’ve concentrated testing in long term care homes, healthcare and correctional facilities. Also each test is a case, rather than an individual. It seems that this could skew the percentage positive as we retest individuals who do test positive. And with some facilities testing all patients and staff weekly (LTCF) this adds up to a lot of tests and repeat positives. Additionally the CDC just came out with their latest findings showing that virus fragments have been found in patients up to 3 MONTHS after the onset of the illness and these virus fragments have NOT been shown to be capable of transmitting the disease.
Scaling back to phase 2 will be devastating to local business already struggling to survive. The area numbers do not warrant this and per both UVA and MJH, they are not at or approaching capacity. Recent outbreaks in long term care facilities account for bulk of increase in cases, compounded by these positives being tested repeatedly, and shld not be used as decision maker for the rest of the community. I urge you to vote against this proposal. Thank you
The Emergency Ordinance (revised today) will require citizens to present documentation of their physical/mental disabilities to avoid a Class 1 misdemeanor (1 year in jail)? This is threatening people who are already having difficulty transacting business and providing for their families with the prospect of having to go to court and/or disclose to law enforcement sensitive medical information. It is difficult to understand how you justify such extreme measures in a county that is not a hotbed of COVID-19 (with 10 deaths total over the entire course of the pandemic). This will disproportionately affect disadvantaged populations, and the fact that you carve out an exception for UVA in Sec 3(H) just makes it that much clearer whose interests you are protecting. Align the local EO with the actions of the governor; the Commonwealth has carefully considered the impacts / legal ramifications and I ask that you do the same. Also, please enable public comment on meetings prior to morning of.
The BOS should not be using positivity rates as the driver for this decision. We are still well below the 10% benchmark the TJHD said we should stay below for moving from Phase 2 to Phase 3 last month. Also, positivity rates are a meaningless metric, especially when we are at such low rates--hospital capacity should be the basis for this decision. As for capacity, the information Mr. McKay presented at the meeting last week was false. UVA Hospital is NOT at or near capacity for COVID-ICU or in its ability to handle a spike, which they say they have not seen. UVA spokespeople have multiple times said the representation that it is at capacity is false and "misleading," and they confirmed they have plenty of capacity, as does Martha Jefferson. Reverting to Phase 2 is not factually supported nor justified, and doing so will impose unnecessary hardship on our local businesses and our community, including our children with the further loss of access to recreation and reasonable gatherings.
I strongly oppose stepping back to phase two.
I strongly oppose this rushed vote
I strongly oppose the notion that our BOS should revert our community back to Phase 2. The data they are using to support their recommendation is inaccurate and misleading. We need the BOS to come up with resolutions not create more roadblocks. Get to work.
Positive tests are not a reliable metric on which to base policy decisions. We have greatly increased testing in our area and we’ve concentrated testing in long term care homes, healthcare and correctional facilities. Also each test is a case, rather than an individual. It seems that this could skew the percentage positive as we retest individuals who do test positive. And with some facilities testing all patients and staff weekly (LTCF) this adds up to a lot of tests and repeat positives. Additionally the CDC just came out with their latest findings showing that virus fragments have been found in patients up to 3 MONTHS after the onset of the illness and these virus fragments have NOT been shown to be capable of transmitting the disease.
Scaling back to phase 2 will be devastating to local business already struggling to survive. The area numbers do not warrant this and per both UVA and MJH, they are not at or approaching capacity. Recent outbreaks in long term care facilities account for bulk of increase in cases, compounded by these positives being tested repeatedly, and shld not be used as decision maker for the rest of the community. I urge you to vote against this proposal. Thank you
The Emergency Ordinance (revised today) will require citizens to present documentation of their physical/mental disabilities to avoid a Class 1 misdemeanor (1 year in jail)? This is threatening people who are already having difficulty transacting business and providing for their families with the prospect of having to go to court and/or disclose to law enforcement sensitive medical information. It is difficult to understand how you justify such extreme measures in a county that is not a hotbed of COVID-19 (with 10 deaths total over the entire course of the pandemic). This will disproportionately affect disadvantaged populations, and the fact that you carve out an exception for UVA in Sec 3(H) just makes it that much clearer whose interests you are protecting. Align the local EO with the actions of the governor; the Commonwealth has carefully considered the impacts / legal ramifications and I ask that you do the same. Also, please enable public comment on meetings prior to morning of.
The BOS should not be using positivity rates as the driver for this decision. We are still well below the 10% benchmark the TJHD said we should stay below for moving from Phase 2 to Phase 3 last month. Also, positivity rates are a meaningless metric, especially when we are at such low rates--hospital capacity should be the basis for this decision. As for capacity, the information Mr. McKay presented at the meeting last week was false. UVA Hospital is NOT at or near capacity for COVID-ICU or in its ability to handle a spike, which they say they have not seen. UVA spokespeople have multiple times said the representation that it is at capacity is false and "misleading," and they confirmed they have plenty of capacity, as does Martha Jefferson. Reverting to Phase 2 is not factually supported nor justified, and doing so will impose unnecessary hardship on our local businesses and our community, including our children with the further loss of access to recreation and reasonable gatherings.