Agenda - 10-06-20; 8-a - Minutes

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25 1 2 NOW, THEREFORE, we, the Orange County Board of County Commissioners, do hereby 3 declare September 2020 as "Orange County Preparedness Month." 4 5 This the 1st Day of September 2020. 6 7 Penny Rich, Chair 8 Orange County Board of Commissioners 9 10 A motion was made by Commissioner Bedford, seconded by Commissioner Price to 11 approve the Proclamation and authorize the Board Chair to sign it. 12 Chair Rich asked Commissioners to accept a roll call form of voting and called names 13 accordingly. 14 15 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 16 17 f. Update on COVID-19 Response and Funding Allocations 18 The Board received an update on the County's response to the COVID-19 pandemic 19 with a focus on the use of supplemental State and Federal funding. 20 21 BACKGROUND: 22 Since March, all County operations have been adjusted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. 23 County employees have been asked to work from home if possible, and those employees who 24 are reporting to a physical work location are providing services using new protocols and 25 procedures to minimize person to person contact and avoid potential exposure to COVID-19. A 26 summary of the current operational status for each County department is included as 27 Attachment 1. 28 29 The Health Department has guided the County's response efforts. At a policy level, the Health 30 Department has provided recommendations on local regulations, general public health 31 protocols, personal protective equipment, and re-opening strategies. At the clinical level, the 32 Health Department has executed communicable disease protocols and case investigations and 33 organized community testing events. The Department has led the County's public information 34 and education campaign by producing daily text messages and social media content, 35 maintaining a Countywide website and dashboard, and issuing weekly newsletters. 36 37 The Emergency Services Department has coordinated emergency support functions through the 38 Emergency Operations Center. The Emergency Operations Center (EOC) has been activated 39 on a continuous basis since March 9, 2020. The EOC has responded to over 1,012 resource 40 requests from municipal and community organizations and provided over 121,000 items. 41 Emergency Services has also facilitated daily briefings for key staff members, organized a multi- 42 jurisdictional information sharing meeting, and through the Emergency Support Functions, the 43 Department has supported direct services related to food distribution, community testing, hotel 44 occupancy for the homeless population, and continues to track, report, and request federal 45 reimbursement for related expenses through the Federal Emergency Management Agency 46 (FEMA). 47 48 This update focuses on the application of supplemental State and Federal resources designed 49 to respond to the pandemic. These allocations are included in Budget Amendment #1 which is 50 on the consent agenda for the September 1 meeting. This report does not include direct COVID-