Inter-agency COVID-19 Local Boards of Health Webinar November 13, 2020
Webinar Agenda • Welcome and Introductions • Reminders • Agency Announcements and Updates DPH – Travel Quarantine Texting Changes • EEA – Inter-state Hockey Updates to the Youth and Adult Amateur • Sports Standards • Community Tracing Collaborative Questions and Answers •
Inter-agency Staff on the Webinar • Jana Ferguson, Assistant Commissioner, DPH • Ron O’Connor, Office of Local and Regional Health, DPH • Dr. Catherine Brown, Bureau of Infectious Disease and Laboratory Sciences, DPH • Anne Gilligan, Department of Elementary and Secondary Education • Michael Flanagan, Mary Dozois, and Adam Kinney, Department of Labor Standards • Gerben Scherpbier, Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs • Cheryl Sbarra, Massachusetts Association of Health Boards • Chief Jeff Farnsworth, Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association • John Welch and Jason Lefferts, Community Tracing Collaborative
MEDIA AND RECORDING ADVISORY • This webinar is intended for local boards of health. Any media who may have joined should disconnect. • Recording is not consented to and not permitted.
LEGAL ISSUES ON WEBINARS • DPH contracts with the Massachusetts Association of Health Boards (MAHB) to provide answers and guidance to health departments and boards of health on a wide range of public health issues including COVID-19. • MAHB produces documents and provides information on these webinars for educational purposes only and are not to be construed as legal advice. • For legal advice, please contact your city or town attorney.
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS PROCESS Please note that we will be unable to take questions by phone. Please use the webinar Q&A function for questions or comments. If you are having technical issues, email Erica Piedade, erica.m.piedade@mass.gov
Inter-Agency Updates
UPDATE Travel Quarantine Texting Department Changes of Public Health (DPH) -Jana Ferguson
Travel Quarantine Texting Changes • In support of the Travel Order, travelers that submit Travel Forms indicating they are arriving from somewhere out of state not designated as ‘low risk’ have been receiving daily reminder text messages during their trip. • These texts remind them of the Travel Order rules that require them to quarantine for 14-days unless they have a negative test result. • Starting today, Friday 11/13 , the daily reminder text messages to travelers are being retired Travelers will still get a confirmation email when they submit their Travel Form that reinforces the Travel Order rules, but • they won’t get daily reminder text messages to their phone. • There are no changes to the Travel Order or travel quarantine requirements. • The Travel- related reporting available to Local Health on the CTC’s SharePoint site will change slightly in early December to no longer include text message metrics.
UPDATE Updated Youth and Adult • Amateur Sports Standards Executive Interstate Youth Hockey • Office of - Gerben Scherpbier Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA)
Updated Youth and Adult Amateur Sports • Facial Coverings • Change : New exemption for facial coverings • Update : • Facial coverings not required to be worn while engaged in lower risk sports activity when participants can consistently maintain at least 14 feet distance from each other throughout the duration of the play (e.g. singles tennis, when XC runners are more than 14 feet apart, solo gymnastics)
Updated Youth and Adult Amateur Sports • No out-of-state teams allowed to play at MA-facilities (no change) • Out-of-state border athletes or coaches are subject to the travel order • Change : Guidance aligned with Travel Order • Update : • An individual athlete from a border state that plays on a Massachusetts based team is subject to the travel order. • Any player who comes into the state from a non-low-risk state has to either quarantine or test every time the player enters. • Clarifications : • There is no exemption from Travel Order for volunteer sports activities/coaching. • A student from another state being educated in Massachusetts can participate in school affiliated sports in Massachusetts and is not subject to the Travel Order, but only for school-affiliated athletics. This does not apply to club teams or private leagues.
Updated Youth and Adult Amateur Sports • Massachusetts-based teams, athletes, or coaches that choose to travel must comply with the MA Travel Order (clarified) • If a player or team does not comply, the team or individual risks suspension • Out-of-state travel is strongly discouraged • If a MA team, player, or coach travels to a non-low-risk state, they must test or quarantine when they come back to Massachusetts before they can return to work or school • Massachusetts teams must ensure full compliance with the Travel Order • The Activity Organizer must ensure that every player complies with the travel order. If they do not, they risk suspension of play.
Interstate Youth Hockey - Joint Statement Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Jersey • interstate competitions for public and private schools and youth hockey in 7 states suspended effective this Saturday, November 14, 2020 through at minimum December 31, 2020; • interstate collegiate, professional, or U.S. national team hockey activities will remain subject to existing health and safety protocols and/or restrictions; • states will reassess the need for continued restrictions on interstate sports activities based on public health data
UPDATE For all referrals please use: Phone - (508) 616-0461 x9488 Department Email - safepublicworkplacemailbox@mass.gov of Labor Both are monitored by DLS • Standards employees. (DLS) More efficient than providing • individual phone or email
Other Updates
Community Tracing Collaborative John Welch, Community Tracing Collaborative Jason Lefferts, Community Tracing Collaborative
Supporting Increased Volume • Higher caseloads requires additional outreach to encourage positive cases to answer the call and support contact tracing efforts. • Immediate-term activities will focus on communities with higher caseloads • Existing material will be targeted through social media and CEIT outreach teams • Ethnic media earned media with bi-lingual contact tracers will be pursued • First communities: Chelsea, Everett, Fall River, Fitchburg, Framingham, Lawrence, Lowell, Lynn, Pittsfield, Revere, Springfield, Winthrop and Worcester • Longer-term activities will expand the footprint and include fresh messaging • Also in development is a new mass.gov webpage that offers advance tips on isolation and quarantine, with links to other existing material
Updated Incoming Cases to the CTC April 11, 2020-Nov 10, 2020
Q&A.1 Questions submitted by e-mail before the webinar Please note that we select questions that are of general interest and for which we have a response today. Please send questions in advance of the webinar to : Mike Coughlin at michael.j.coughlin@mass.gov
Questions Submitted Before the Webinar “Are healthcare workers or first responders now required to quarantine as a close contact given the discontinuation of the designation of essential workers ?”
Questions Submitted Before the Webinar “Can DPH speak to how we should triage contact tracing with numbers quickly increasing? Can the Community Tracing Collaborative handle the surge right now ?”
Questions Submitted Before the Webinar “Is testing of asymptomatic people (not close contacts) recommended? With limited resources, what are your thoughts on how this could be funded/sustained? Is there any guidance on how to run a testing program?”
Questions Submitted Before the Webinar “Are there recommendations for routine random testing in schools and acute care hospital settings?
Questions Submitted Before the Webinar “What it is the current standard for construction sites and face covering requirements ?”
Questions Submitted Before the Webinar “ Would an outdoor fitness class in a park fall under the fitness standards or another standard? Should all the participants wear a mask the whole time ?”
Questions Submitted Before the Webinar “ Why are non-food/pharmacy retailers allowed to be open after 10 p.m. - especially if people are not meant to be going out to them ?”
Questions Submitted Before the Webinar “ Do golfers have to wear a mask out on the course ?”
Questions Submitted Before the Webinar “Is a private school student from New Hampshire allowed to play for teams in Massachusetts under Massachusetts rules?”
Questions Submitted Before the Webinar “ If students travel out of Massachusetts to play any moderate/high-risk sport (hockey, basketball, football, etc.) then they would need to quarantine and test to return to school. This does not matter if they travel to New Hampshire/Maine or any non-restricted state, correct ?”
Questions Submitted Before the Webinar “ Can high schools now play tackle football?
Questions Submitted Before the Webinar “Can you tell us the status of racquetball? Is it high risk and still limited to level 2 because it is played indoors?”
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