By Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


A committee of the Livingston County Board of Commissioners met virtually Monday and received an update on COVID-19 in the local community.

The General Government & Health and Human Service Committee heard from officials with the Livingston County Health Department. The county is considered a medium risk location under a regional state plan. It was stated the county currently averages about two positive tests daily and the average number of contacts per case has been around 3 to 4. Case demographics show the virus predominantly affects those who are older or have compromised immune systems. As for local hospitalizations, 47% cases have been male with 17% being a former or current smoker. As for local deaths, 54% are male and about 36% were former or current smokers. The majority of cases and deaths have been Caucasian. Those age 65 and older account for about 25% of local deaths.

Medical Director Dr. Juan Marquez gave an overview of the virus, transmission and incubation period. He noted there are normally four strains of the virus that commonly circulate and the main transmission is respiratory droplets. Fever, cough and fatigue were said to be the most common symptoms in Livingston County cases. Marquez said one of the big challenges is that there isn’t any vaccine or treatment so the goal is to decrease the number of people who get sick. He stressed the importance of wearing masks, practicing good hand hygiene and social distancing but also making sure to clean surfaces regularly with chlorine or ethanol.

Marquez said the department nurses spend a lot of time providing infection control consulting support- nurses have basically become experts and are trying to help facilities make sure have appropriate infection control strategies. He noted inspections are done by the state but health department nurses provide a lot of expertise on ways to keep patients safe. Marquez laid out the different responsibilities and rules for those involved with long term care facilities, as well as the department. Marquez said facilities work with their own suppliers for PPE although the state will provide supplements. With testing, facilities will typically contract with a commercial lab or the state. Marquez said health systems will sometimes test if they have a relationship with a facility. He says the health department helps coordinate supplies from the state occasionally to facilities - adding with the increased testing required, the volume is too high to help coordinate locally so that’s done through the MDHHS. Marquez says their biggest role, apart from infection control and consulting support, is surveillance and tracking of outbreaks. He says they work with facilities and provide infection controls if needed and support for PPE where outbreaks are occurring.

The department’s new Epidemiologist Emma Harman was also introduced and discussed case investigation, contact tracing, numbers of cases, and case and death demographics. Harman said the county is piloting a platform called Trace Force with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services to roll out to other local health departments across the state. She said the goal is to increase contract tracing efficiency and allow public health nurses to focus more time on case investigation. Harman stated the county did see an increase in the numbers of contacts per case once the Governor’s stay at home order was lifted – and they anticipate an increase in the number of both household and non-household contacts to rise as the case count rises in the county. She said they’re also seeing an increase in case complexity for contact tracing as people travel more or have family and friends in from out of the state or county.

Harman said cases peaked around mid-April locally when there were around 12 per day and is currently resting at about two daily. Harman said the most recent death locally was June 5th – meaning the department has been able to report zero new deaths for over a month which is quite positive. Harman said the county has increased testing and is currently doing around 278 daily tests – which they’re happy with. She noted the positive test rate is also low and stands around 1.8%. Harman said nurses have done a great job of contacting 100% of cases referred to the department. Since from the beginning of the pandemic in March, she says nurse have performed over 1900 hours of contact tracing efforts and have been busy following up. Harman added that in May the department began utilizing a Medical Reserve Corps team. She said that team logged 185 hours in May and June to alleviate caseloads so their nurses can focus on investigations.

Director Diane McCormick noted there will be a pop-up test clinic site in Whitmore Lake in coordinate/collaboration with multiple partners including the Washtenaw County Health Department on July 11th from noon to 6pm. Test supplies are said to be okay locally, allowing testing for those with or without symptoms. McCormick said they are further setting up drive-thru test clinics for first responders on a monthly basis and that will start July 14th and 15th. Finally she noted there will be a very large effort to vaccinate for influenza in the fall and the state will be providing additional funding and vaccines to local health departments. More information on all of those efforts is expected to be forthcoming.