By 1808Delaware
During Monday evening’s meeting of Delaware City Council, the body heard reports on public health and a proposed farmer’s market move.
As the latter progressed, public health was again the primary point of discussion.
Shelia Hiddleson, Delaware County Health Commissioner, gave Council memes a numerical update on the local status of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Delaware County has 183 active cases, Hiddleson said, with a total of 25 of those in the city of Delaware. There is currently 1 hospitalization and 598 individuals are under monitoring because of contact with an infected person.
The County remains at a Level 2, or “Orange” level with the Ohio Public Health Safety system, with triggering indicators being the total number of cases, the fact that the majority of those cases have not occurred in congregate settings (nursing homes, e.g.), and because emergency room visits are higher than anticipated — although Hiddleson indicated that the latter number is in fact on a downward trend.
The age group that currently has the highest number of COVID cases are those aged 20 to 29, which represent over 20 percent of the total, she continued. The second highest group are those aged 40 to 49. 11.5 percent of cases are asymptomatic.
In response to a question from Councilwoman Lisa Keller, Hiddleson said that promised numbers from the State of OHio relating to the percentage of tests which have been positive has not been received as promises. This, in turn, makes it difficult to accurately assess total case numbers.
The recent pop-up testing given with the assistance of the Ohio National Guard saw 448 tests given with a positive rate of 3 percent. Ohio Wesleyan University has seen 1300 tests administered with a positive rate of 1.5 percent.
The second report on Monday was shared by two representatives of Main Street Delaware, and focused on a proposed move of the Farmer’s Market from the Fairgrounds to Downtown.
City Manager Tom Homan began the report by relaying that he had met with the Delaware General Health DIstrict and Main Street to examine this possibility. When previously discussed earlier this summer, it was suggested by the Health District that the end of August might be a good time to reassess the situation, and Main Street Delaware has developed a proposal to this end.
According to Susie Bibler and Caroline Pusateri of Main Street Delaware, while the Fairgrounds provides 700 linear feet for vendors, the Downtown move would extend that to 1500 feet along sidewalks on Sandusky with some side street usage as well. This would allow for 45 vendors to participate with over 10 feet between each; currently, the highest turnout has been 38 vendors, with an average of 30 to 35 each week.
All state and local mandates and guidelines would be followed, they shared.
Health Commissioner Shelia Hiddleson told Council members that the Health District had looked at the proposal. The number of local cases has declined substantially since the last look at a Downtown event, and the suggested spread out footprint is good. Discussions continue with the City Manager’s office and Main Street, and Hiddleson concluded by saying that this “may be time” to “trust the community to do the right thing” (wear masks and social distance) and allow the change.
One concern, Hiddleson said, was that the Fairgrounds had been means to control ingress and egress. With vendors spread out through Downtown, this will be harder to accomplish. All guidelines will need to be followed.
Council members expressed support for the concept, including relaying comments from Downtown merchants seeking ways to keep and improve business.
