Month: December 2020

Dear Folks,

Good evening!  I am trying to prepare for the Yolo County Health Council meeting which starts at 9 a.m. tomorrow morning so I hit the Yolo County Coronavirus Dashboards: https://www.yolocounty.org/health-human-services/adults/communicable-disease-investigation-and-control/novel-coronavirus-2019/dashboard-and-documents to see what I could find on contact tracing.

Why look up contact tracing?  According to this UC Davis Health piece on Coronavirus (https://www.yolocounty.org/health-human-services/adults/communicable-disease-investigation-and-control/novel-coronavirus-2019/dashboard-and-documents) I should be VERY interested in this activity because: "Contact tracing is crucial part of good public health."

OK, so what did I find about contact tracing in Yolo County on the Yolo Dashboards?  Um……Zilch.  Nada.  Bupkis.  Oh, my!

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Dear Folks:

Somebody I know who runs a small business in Davis has been asking me a number of very cogent questions regarding the handling of the Coronavirus in our County.  

Here is what he wrote me a couple of weeks ago:

"So Nov 23 was a bad day for Yolo County, with 108 cases reported. And Davis was not good, with 25 of those. But  as usual, Woodland was by far the highest, with 53 cases.
Has the county health agency just given up? With numbers like that, are they actually looking at Woodland as a 
local hot spot and redirecting resources? 

Are they actually making use of these numbers that tell 
them where and how many cases are occurring? Or have theyjust given up on contact tracing?"

When I chatted with him a few days ago, he said, "The same questions apply, John!".  And he confirmed that again this morning.

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Hey Folks,

Give THIS a listen!  Dr. Sisson lays it out clearly and precisely….. what are the new rules and why.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KigMOsfR57g&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR3v6hv-v5jsKt0t6PdV9jdBM-EkzCgKqu_vJGHMZQjNTsfuwgZFncVgqvA.

She has a gift (of communication) and I am glad she is using it for our benefit!

Regards,

John

Dear Folks,

Well, they might be your neighbors!  Or your friends!  Or your co-worker!  Or someone you know from church/temple/mosque. Or someone you don't know yet but would like to know because they represent your district in Yolo County.  (Note:  Supervisors are elected from districts now and a specific set of Health Council Members are selected by the Supervisor to represent the public interest in their district.)

Here is a link to the roster from the Yolo County website (this website is chock full of good information, do you ever visit it?  I recommend it!)

https://www.yolocounty.org/home/showpublisheddocument?id=65970

BTW, I tried to copy and paste it below, but it did not come out so well.  That's after switching from the Safari browser to the Firefox browser, which yielded an improvement but it is still not that great.  Try the link, please. 

Don't forget, there is a Health Council meeting this Thursday morning and they will be discussing all things health related with a big dose of discussion on COVID-19.  The public is always welcome at Health Council meetings, but you may want to check with "your" representative on the Council before Thursday to see what's happening, how they plan to contribute this Thursday, etc.

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NOTE:  The Health Council meets this coming Thursday at 9 a.m. and the meeting is open to the public.  

Good morning!

During this pandemic, friends in Yolo County have been asking me serious questions like "who is in charge over there?!".  

Good question to ask when we are being asked/"ordered" to shut down our personal and business lives in a fundamental way in order to save lives and help keep people healthy.  

So, I have previously posted information that Brian Vaughn, MPH is the Yolo County Health Department Public Health Director.  And I recently posted an interview with Dr. Aimee Sisson, MD, MPH who is Yolo County's Health Officer.  And I have noted that Yolo County has not one but TWO PhD level County Epidemiologists.  And now I am going to tell you about the Yolo County Health Council.

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Dear Folks:

You didn't forget did you?  

Your property taxes pay for a lot of stuff…. including HELP support the Yolo County Health Department.  Although the reality is that public health in the United States is often funded in a "share" arrangement…… money originates in the Federal Government, then goes to the State Government and then to the County Government.  But all of it comes from YOU… the American tax payer.

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Well, let's note right up front that epidemiologists are not infectious disease physicians.

I like to tell this little story/thought experiment:

Q:  If I have a lung infection, who should I go see, an infectious disease physician or an epidemiologist?

Most people get the right answer.

But then I ask:

Q:  If society has an epidemic, should we consult an infectious disease physician who treats a single patient at a time or an epidemiologist who studies diseases and makes decisions for whole populations of people?

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By Kelsey Fortune

During Tuesday’s City Council Meeting, the Council appointed commission members. I was hoping to be one. Instead, after making my apology public, I was called out and shamed in a public forum where I had no option to respond.

I missed my interview. I don’t know if anyone else has noticed, but we are living through difficult times right now. Staff and I had scheduled a fifteen-minute interview with Dan Carson and Gloria Partida on Monday, November 23rd. Unfortunately, my grandmother, who has been in a nursing home since a stroke in the Spring of 2019, was diagnosed with COVID-19, and my mind was elsewhere. I forgot about my interview completely.

I emailed an apology. The following morning, I realized my mistake. I was extremely disappointed with myself for missing such an important meeting. The whole day was filled with guilt and sadness. I emailed the staff member with whom I had been corresponding about the interview.

“I want to sincerely apologize for missing my interview yesterday. My grandma has been diagnosed with COVID, and I am completely consumed with this news. I'm sorry that I wasted Dan and Gloria's time. I hope that I can still be considered to serve on a commission.”

I received a compassionate response from staff on Monday, November 30th. I understood this to mean that my application had been forwarded along with this information.

“I am truly sorry to hear about your grandma’s diagnoses, and wish her a speedy recovery!! Your application has been forwarded to the entire City Council for their consideration. Appointments will occur tomorrow at their Council meeting.”

I called in to apologize during public comment. Instead of responding with compassion, Council responded by called me out in their discussion. It was stated that this was the first they were hearing from me. From my perspective, that is not true. I reached out the day following the missed interview. Regardless, speaking this way about a private citizen in a public forum where they cannot respond is inappropriate, unprofessional, and humiliating.

Please consider what you expect from our elected officials.

Dear Folks,

Came across this little treasure…..actually, it was shared with me by a friend of mine. (Isn't that how we all REALLY keep up with a complex topic these days!).

Here is a link to an interview by Autumn Labbe-Renault *** from Davis Media Access, broadcast on KDRT: 

https://kdrt.org/audio/covid-19-community-report-1200pm-dec-1st-2020.

I do not know Autumn but my friend has been suggesting for weeks that I listen to her broadcast because they think she is good at this coronavirus coverage.

Hey, they are right!  I am impressed with the interviewing approach.  Check it out!

BTW, as a full disclosure, I have to tell you that the Health Officer is a former student of mine from when I taught in the Masters in Public Health Program at UC Davis School of Medicine.  But she is her own independent person and her views, enhanced by years of experience after she earned her MPH, are her own. I would like to think, though, that I helped a little bit along the way!  :)

Check out this interview and perhaps keep a notepad handy, in case you think of another question that YOU would like answered!

Regards,

John

*** About Autumn Labbe-Renault

Autumn Labbe-Renault (she/her/hers) is executive director of Davis Media Access. She launched the "COVID-19 Community Report" on March 17, 2020. She's been spending part of her time during the pandemic documenting local experience and response through audio and video archives. Her views are her own.

Well, well, well friends, how is it going?

Did you go all out on Cyber Monday getting gifts for family and friends (and ahem, yourself) online?  As it turns out, I did not buy ANYTHING on Cyber Monday.  

Now, let you get the impression that I am an anti-commercial purest, nothing could be further from the truth.  As an MBA, I am a "card carrying capitalist" and understand that personal spending by individuals and families does the majority of the work in moving the economy in the US in positive directions (hence the need for the Congress to prime the pump with relief checks, extended unemployment income payments , etc).  No, the fact of the matter is I just don't need anything.  (Thank God!)

But Giving Tuesday?  That's a whole other matter.  From the role model of my parents, the teachings of my church, the reinforcement of "Love thy neighbor as thyself" from the college I went to, I am committed to making a difference in our world even if it is only through small donations to worthy causes.

So, while I took naps yesterday, today I was up early and made four targeted donations.  Who did I give to and why?  Here is the line up:

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