Ottawa County's COVID-19 Response Updates - Fri-Sat, April 24-25, 2020

Ottawa County, Michigan sent this bulletin at 04/25/2020 11:27 AM EDT

Ottawa County I Fri-Sat, April 24-25

Latest Video Update
Media Contact: Kristina Wieghmink, OCDPH public information officer
kwieghmink@miottawa.org I mobile/text 616-510-8523

Click on the dashboard to expand. Data Source: Michigan Disease Surveillance System.

Stay Home, Stay Safe executive order extended through May 15

“Data shows that most Michiganders are doing their part by staying home and staying safe. That’s good, but we must keep it up. Social distancing is our best weapon to defeat this enemy,” said Governor Whitmer. “With new COVID-19 cases leveling off, however, we are lifting some of the restrictions put in place in the previous order. I want to be crystal clear: the overarching message today is still the same. We must all do our part by staying home and staying safe as much as possible.”

Summary of changes

Requires people to wear homemade, non-medical grade face coverings when they enter enclosed public spaces. How to make a face covering.
Allows some workers who perform previously suspended activities to go back to work, such as landscapers, lawn-service companies and nurseries, subject to strict social distancing.

Retailers that do not sell necessary supplies may reopen for curbside pick-up and for delivery.
Big box stores can reopen closed areas, like garden centers and paint departments.
Bike repair and maintenance can come back online.
Allows motorized boating and golf (but no golf carts), consistent with strict social distancing.
Permits individuals to travel between their residences, though such travel during the epidemic is strongly discouraged.
Clarifies that state parks remain open, as they have been throughout the emergency.

The Ottawa County Department of Public Health strongly urges you to continue physical distancing and practicing all the disease prevention measures, such as frequent handwashing and regularly cleaning and disinfecting. These are our best defense, as we do not have any vaccine or treatment for COVID-19 at this time.

Ottawa County officials have been working diligently on developing plans and providing guidance to re-engage our society in a way that protects the health and safety of our community. This is done by using public health evidence-based strategies and consulting with professionals from the business, economic, educational and medical sectors.

Learn more about Ottawa County's COVID-19 response at miOttawa.org/miHealth.

How to Make & Wear a Face Covering

View printable reference and instructional sheet.

Click to watch the instructional video.

Serving pregnant women and newborn babies

The Maternal Infant Health Program (MIHP) team at the Ottawa County Department of Public Health is supporting families in new and innovative ways during these unprecedented times. While business is much the same---continuing to educate on topics such as safe sleep, immunizations, breastfeeding, managing stress, accessing care, attachment and development, and much more---how our team does this is evolving daily.

Our team of nurses, social workers, and a dietician are meeting with clients over the phone and through video-conferencing. They have teamed up with community partners such as Nestlings, WIC, Community Action House, Positive Options, Holland Pediatrics, and other area businesses to strengthen supports for families. You’ll find them dropping off diapers and formula on doorsteps, or instructing parents on how to use the baby scale through windows, practicing social distancing while still assessing adequate infant growth. The MIHP team is using technology in new ways, such as creating videos of infant massage instruction and providing virtual breastfeeding counseling sessions. These methods that have been propagated because of COVID-19, but have a positive impact on how MIHP services will be delivered moving forward.

“Although most of this work would occur in the absence of coronavirus, families feel a sense of comfort that we are still here for them when most other things are not,” said program supervisor Dawn Dotson, MPA, RN

MIHP Team: Jael DelaHuerta, Marissa Lesky, Charly Nienhuis, Kyrian Kish, Becky Antaya, Cynthia Smeyers, Devon Stuit, Dawn Dotson, Molly Dewald and Sandra Lake

Becky Antaya, MIHP Registered Dietician and International Board Certified Lactation Consultant, created a formula comparison chart to inform individuals and agencies of the formula types and brands that are interchangeable, a tool which has been shared statewide and has proven highly useful as some formula types have come to be in short supply. Additionally, our Medicaid Enrollment Specialist, Devon Stuit, is assisting families with gaining insurance coverage over the phone, helping meet a need that has intensified over the past few weeks.

“Thank you so much for calling and talking with me. I appreciate that you care and check in on us, and I’m so thankful for your help,” said an Ottawa County mother who recently delivered a baby boy and is enrolled in MIHP.

The MIHP team is looking forward to reconnecting with families in-person, but in the meantime, they are committed to promoting and protecting maternal and child health for our community by whatever means required.

Learn more about MIHP or make a referral at miOttawa.org/MIHP.

READ: A Message for Patients: Pregnancy & Breastfeeding during COVID-19 I WIC FAQs

LEARN MORE: CDC Guidance

Click here for more information about public health's limited operations and services during this time.

Click to watch and learn more about MIHP.

Ottawa County Parks & Recreation Update

The Ottawa County Parks & Recreation Commission has been working hard to keep parks open and safe. At this time, all park properties remain open, but some amenities such as playgrounds, rental facilities, restrooms, and our Nature Center are closed. At some parks, one-way trails were implemented to help with social distancing and parking has been limited to avoid overcrowding.

New research and information about COVID becomes available every day and in light of updated guidelines from the CDC related to pets, the Grand Ravines Dog Park and the off-leash dog beach at Kirk Park have been temporarily closed. Both will re-open when these recommendations are lifted. The decision to close these amenities is in-line with the majority of the park systems state-wide.

Both park properties remain open to the public. Dogs are still welcome on-leash at Grand Ravines outside of the dog park area. With the Kirk Park dog beach being closed, its rules will temporarily fall in line with Ottawa County’s other Lake Michigan parks, where dogs are not allowed from May 1-September 30. It is possible that Kirk Park will open to dogs sooner than September 30. Please note with continued beach erosion, there will likely be some restrictions in place after re-opening.

Ottawa County Parks has many dog-friendly parks and open spaces, please visit our website for more information.

Click to find parks.

#OttawaStaysHome

How are you staying occupied during Stay Home - Stay Safe? Why do you stay home? Use the hashtag OttawStaysHome to share and visit Facebook.com/OttawaCounty to view some of the community posts Ottawa County has shared.

Click for the state and local COVID-19 resource list.

English I Spanish

NEW

RESOURCE DOCUMENT FOR GROWERS AND SEASONAL WORKERS

English I Spanish

Click for other local resources and services list.

English I Spanish

Please call first - services and programs may be limited, at this time.

Governor's Update April 24, 2020 I WATCH I PRESENTATION SLIDES

Governor Whitmer Extends Stay Home, Stay Safe Order, Directs Michiganders to Wear Homemade Masks in Enclosed Public Spaces

Today, Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed executive order 2020-59, extending her “Stay Home, Stay Safe” order through May 15. The new order will require people to wear homemade face coverings when they enter enclosed public spaces. It will also lift some restrictions on outdoor activities and allow some workers who perform previously suspended activities to go back to work.

The order will require people to wear homemade, non-medical grade face coverings when they enter enclosed public spaces. It will also require employers to provide at least cloth face coverings to their employees. People won’t have to wear face coverings when they’re taking a walk in the neighborhood, but when they go to the grocery store, they should be wearing one. Under the order, however, no one will be subject to criminal penalty for going without a mask.

The new executive order will also allow some workers who perform very previously suspended activities to go back on the job. Landscapers, lawn-service companies, and nurseries can return to work, subject to strict social distancing. Retailers to that do not sell necessary supplies may reopen for curbside pick-up and for delivery. Big box stores can reopen “closed areas,” like garden centers. And bike repair and maintenance can come back online.

At the same time, the order will ease up on some restrictions on members of the public. It will, for example, allow motorized boating and golf (but no golf carts), consistent with sound social distancing. It will also permit individuals to travel between their residences, though such travel during the epidemic is strongly discouraged. And it will clarify that state parks remain open, as they have been throughout the emergency.