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Informal Meeting Minutes Monday, January 24, 2022 9:30 AM BOARD OF SUPERVISORS Maricopa County, Arizona (and the Boards of Directors of the Flood Control District, Library District, Stadium District, Improvement Districts and/or Board of Deposit) "The mission of Maricopa County is to provide regional leadership and fiscally responsible, necessary public services to its residents so they can enjoy living in healthy and safe communities” Board Members Bill Gates, Chairman, District 3 Clint Hickman, Vice Chairman, District 4 Jack Sellers, District 1 Thomas Galvin, District 2 Steve Gallardo, District 5 County Manager Joy Rich Clerk of the Board Juanita Garza Meeting Location Supervisors’ Auditorium 205 W Jefferson Phoenix, AZ 85003 BOARD OF SUPERVISORS The Board of Supervisors of Maricopa County, Phoenix, Arizona, convened in an Informal Session at 9:30 AM on Monday, January 24, 2022, in the Supervisors’ Auditorium, 205 W Jefferson, Phoenix, AZ 85003, with the following members present: Bill Gates, Chairman, District 3; Clint Hickman, Vice Chairman, District 4 (entered meeting late); Jack Sellers, Supervisor, District 1 (remote); Thomas Galvin, Supervisor, District 2; Steve Gallardo, Supervisor, District 5 (remote). Also present: Juanita Garza, Clerk; Kelly Gardiner, Minutes Coordinator; Joy Rich, County Manager; Andrea Cummings, Legal Counsel (remote). Chairman Gates opened the meeting and asked the Clerk to call the roll. PRESENTATION 1. PRESENTATION BY THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH Department of Public Health will be presenting on: •COVID-19 Update •Vaccine Events Marcy Flanagan, Director, Department of Public Health Rebecca Sunenshine, Department Medical Director (C-86-22-102-X-00) Chairman Gates introduced Dr. Rebecca Sunenshine, Public Health Medical Director, and Marcy Flanagan, Director of Public Health and asked them to come forward to present and update on COVID-19 in Maricopa County. Informal Meeting Minutes Monday, January 24, 2022 Page 2 of 15 Ms. Flanagan thanked the Board for the invitation to present today. She said it has been a long road over the last two years and todays update will focus on the Omicron variant, mask guidance and the information that is circulating in the media regarding the pandemic in hopes of helping the public with decision making. Dr. Sunenshine started by reviewing the above slide that shows the epi curve and the trends we have seen. She said we appear to be at the top of the peak, and she is hopeful it is on the way down. The above slide shows hospitalizations in the central region at 62,000 with the chart indicating the numbers are still on the rise. The peaks trend about 2 weeks behind a holiday surge. Informal Meeting Minutes Monday, January 24, 2022 Page 3 of 15 Dr. Sunenshine said on a positive note, deaths appear to be decreasing in a similar trend as the decrease in the number of hospitalizations. These numbers reflect a month lag-time relative to the infection rates. Dr. Sunenshine said using the CDC standards of 100 cases per 100,000 being high transmission rate, Maricopa County has seen an increase of 13% over the time frame noted in the slide. Informal Meeting Minutes Monday, January 24, 2022 Page 4 of 15 Dr. Sunenshine reviewed the above slide and said anything over 10% is considered high percent positivity. The 34% shown on the slide amounts to one in three tests coming back positive. She said this is unprecedented growth for the pandemic. Dr. Sunenshine reviewed the slide above and said there has been a take-over by the Omicron variant in the past month. Informal Meeting Minutes Monday, January 24, 2022 Page 5 of 15 The above slide highlighted the mutation of the coronavirus. Dr. Sunenshine noted the above slide as a visual aid to show that all the variants we are seeing are COVID-19. Informal Meeting Minutes Monday, January 24, 2022 Page 6 of 15 Dr. Sunenshine talked about large studies that have shown solid data on how the Omicron cases are less severe which results in a decline in deaths. The above slide shows some of the data related to the studies. She said that even though the Omicron is less severe, the continued concern is due to the hospitalization rate. The above slide shows the medical and surgical beds that are being utilized by COVID patients. Additionally, there are staffing issues and we are in the middle of flu season that puts a strain on the hospitals. Informal Meeting Minutes Monday, January 24, 2022 Page 7 of 15 She reported that vaccine boosters are proving to be highly effective at 76%, as demonstrated in the slide above. Informal Meeting Minutes Monday, January 24, 2022 Page 8 of 15 Dr. Sunenshine emphasized the value of being fully vaccinated while reviewing the above slide. Chairman Gates asked for a definition of the term "fully vaccinated." Dr. Sunenshine said two shots is considered fully vaccinated for the information presented. She also said that while the CDC is no longer recommending the Johnson and Johnson vaccine, those people who have received it should still get a booster shot of the mRNA vaccine. Informal Meeting Minutes Monday, January 24, 2022 Page 9 of 15 Dr. Sunenshine reviewed the many studies that support the effectiveness of wearing a mask. The above slide was reviewed regarding the recommended use of masks. Informal Meeting Minutes Monday, January 24, 2022 Page 10 of 15 Dr. Sunenshine talked about the use of respirators. Informal Meeting Minutes Monday, January 24, 2022 Page 11 of 15 Dr. Sunenshine reviewed the slides on masks for schools and test availability. Informal Meeting Minutes Monday, January 24, 2022 Page 12 of 15 Dr. Sunenshine explained Endemicity vs. Pandemic and said that COVID-19 will not disappear when the pandemic has ended. She said she hopes that the trend for the coronavirus continues in the future, being less severe than when it began. Informal Meeting Minutes Monday, January 24, 2022 Page 13 of 15 Ms. Flanagan reviewed the history of the pandemic and its impact as shown in the slide above and below. Ms. Flanagan thanked all who have contributed to the fight against COVID that included several County departments that have been vital to the County’s ongoing response to COVID as seen in the slide below. She noted that there have been three different Chairmans of the Board since the onset of COVID. She stated it began when Supervisor Hickman was Chairman and visited the emergency operation center when they were at the Public Health location. Public Health then moved to have a much larger layout. The department is now back in its original location. She acknowledged the Board was supportive in providing the department money before the federal government had yet to address the pandemic. She noted all the County departments that have been a part of the CVID response and thanked them for their contribution. Ms. Flanagan provided statistics about the number of people and the number of volunteer hours Informal Meeting Minutes Monday, January 24, 2022 Page 14 of 15 that were used in the department’s response to the pandemic. This totaled to $3.7 million of volunteer time. Ms. Flanagan noted how proud she was of the department’s team. She said she met with 50 other large counties’ health departments on a weekly basis and Maricopa County was the only one where the entire command team that was involved in the pandemic response is still in place with the Maricopa County Public Health Department. Many other employees and directors of other county public health departments have left the business for various reasons, but not those of Maricopa County. Supervisor Hickman made mention of the eggs donated to assist with food needs. He thanked Ms. Flanagan and Dr. Sunenshine for their work and support. He said hopefully an endemic is on the way. Chairman Gates thanked the Public Health Department and noted the number of lives that have been saved. He offered his thanks to the Board and for the information provided. Supervisor Galvin offered his congratulations to Ms. Flanagan and Dr. Sunenshine. He asked about the slides concerning counterfeit masks. Dr. Sunenshine answered by saying N95 NIOSH is the stamp to look for. K95 is made in China and the codes stamped on the masks will help determine the mask that should be obtained. Supervisor Sellers thanked the Public Health Department. He stated how impressed he was with the work done by the department and staff. Supervisor Gallardo echoed the comments of his colleagues. He is very happy with the work done by the Public Health Department. He asked about the challenges faced with 14,000 children in group or foster homes and is there anyone keeping an eye on these children. Ms. Flanagan said there is help for this population. The Public Health Department has worked with the group homes providing information on how to mitigate and isolate. Supervisor Hickman thanked the Public Health Department. He said we have lived through a war led by Dr. Sunenshine and Ms. Flanagan. He said the mask mandate was good early on and helped make people more aware of the true impact of the pandemic. He said we did not have a playbook when we started. He commented on all the details that came to light through Informal Meeting Minutes Monday, January 24, 2022 Page 15 of 15 the last two years and realizing we have a potential playbook now. If a pandemic happens again in 50 years, we will have documented what worked and what did not. Supervisor Gallardo commented on current supply chain issues and how it impacts everything. Ms. Flanagan said it has impacted all industries and is currently affecting COVID testing. Chairman Gates said he appreciated Supervisor Hickman’s comments about the people who stepped up. He said lessons were learned and this was an important part going forward. 2. EXECUTIVE SESSION Vote to convene in Executive Session to consider the items on the Executive Agenda dated Monday, January 24, 2022, for Board of Supervisors and relevant Special Districts pursuant to the statutory authority listed for each item. Motion to approve by Supervisor Clint Hickman, seconded by Supervisor Thomas Galvin Ayes: Jack Sellers, Bill Gates, Thomas Galvin, Clint Hickman, Steve Gallardo MEETING ADJOURNED After discussion on the Executive Session items and there being no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was adjourned. ___________________________ Bill Gates, Chairman of the Board ATTEST: ____________________________ Juanita Garza, Clerk of the Board