All county employees designated ‘essential’

     Jones County Public Health Coordinator Jenna Lovaas and Emergency Management Brenda Leonard gave a coronavirus update to the Jones County Supervisors during their march 24 meeting.

     Lovaas said there are new isolation guidelines for people who are returning to Iowa after having traveled outside of the state. They must isolate themselves at home for eight days; 14 days if they traveled outside of the country.

     She said they are working on hosting Zoom meetings with healthcare officials, cities, and schools in the county to answer any questions those sectors might have.

     Leonard said she is working with JETS to assist in meal delivery and possibly to help with Senior Dining. She said JETS Manager Jamie Ginter is also willing to pick up PPE (personal protective equipment) for the county.

     “I’m worried about the distribution of food,” voiced Leonard. “There are elderly out there should be getting food because they need food.”

     “I assume it’ll expand as more people become aware of it,” said Supervisor Joe Oswald, noting the delivery of Senior Dining meals.

     Lovaas noted that Senior Dining meals are slowing down at the moment versus increasing at a time of crisis.

     Supervisor Ned Rohwedder said more people came to congregant meals for the socialization. He said some might have food at home.

     “My concern is they’re (the seniors) are not getting the information,” commented County Auditor Janine Sulzner.

     Leonard said there are grants available to apply for funds to increase food distribution through HACAP and Senior Dining.

     It was decided to have a meeting of Leonard, Lovaas, JETS and Senior Dining Director Lisa Tallman to figure out a way to get meals to those in need.

     Leonard said the county is receiving a lot of PPE items via donations, and is keeping track of all donations per FEMA. Those items are being dispersed to the hospitals, throughout the courthouse, first responders, and cities.

     Oswald asked whether a county or the state could override a federal mandate. Lovaas said the Board of Health could issue a shelter-in-place for the county if the Board of Supervisors wanted to.

     “It would need to be enforced, though,” warned Leonard.

     “Enforcement would be a nightmare with something like that,” added Supervisor Wayne Manternach. “If common sense prevails, we’ll be all right.”

     Supervisor Jon Zirkelbach said he was approached by someone seeking to be designated as an “essential business.” Leonard said that is something she and/or County Attorney Kristofer Lyons would have to look into.

     Manternach said he and department heads met last week to discuss essential versus non-essential staff. It was decided to designate all county employees as essential staff for the time being.

     “If there are more restrictions, we’ll revisit it and see if it needs to be adjusted,” said Manternach.

     Sulzner asked whether the county wanted to put travel restrictions on county employees during working hours, noting the City of Anamosa restricted its employees to a 60-mile radius.

     Manternach said other counties have already restricted travel, with some not being allows to even the county while on the clock. However, some county employees live outside of Jones County.

     Oswald said that would obviously restrict emergency personnel and healthcare providers.

     “We can take input from department heads and see how things go,” suggested Sulzner.

     County Treasurer Amy Picray asked about how things would work if the Governor issued a statewide shutdown. The board felt they would deal with that if it happened.

     Sulzner said her office is essential, especially right now during election season.

     “Every office needs to assess where they’re at,” she said.