6 active outbreaks reported, 5 new deaths

CELINA - Mercer County Health District Board of Health members meeting Wednesday approved a resolution declaring the necessity of a five-year, 0.55 mill tax levy.

Also on Wednesday, health officials reported five new deaths and 102 new cases of COVID-19 since their report last week and six active outbreaks in the county. The new cases raise the county's cumulative death toll to 109 and cumulative number of cases to 5,909.

District administrator Jason Menchhofer said he brought the levy issue to county commissioners on Tuesday and did not receive much feedback. Health officials are considering a tax levy attempt at the May 3 primary election.

Menchhofer said the levy would bring in approximately $652,849 per year if passed by county voters. The levy would cost the owner of a $100,000 home $19.25 per year, according to the Mercer County auditor's tax estimator.

Menchhofer had said the proposed health district tax levy would fund expenses such as maintaining public health services; office rent, utilities and renovations; lost revenue replacement; cost of living pay increases; a new health educator position; and workforce support and development.

Officials had initially proposed either a five-year, 0.5-mill levy or a five-year, 0.25-mill levy. Menchhofer on Wednesday said the levy was increased to 0.55 mills because a 0.5-mill levy would bring in considerably less than what the district will need.

Another reason to pursue a levy would be to relieve the political subdivisions in the county of the budgetary burden of their contributions to the health district, Menchhofer had said.

After seeking feedback from political subdivision officials, Menchhofer said the majority seem to be in favor of the 0.55-mill levy.

The health district office is located in the Central Services Building in Celina. However, the district soon will need to find another office space after occupying the current one rent-free for more than 20 years.

Menchhofer had said county commissioners plan to use the space the health district currently occupies to house another county agency as part of the reorganization that is expected to happen once the agriculture center is finished at the old Cheryl Ann building on Mud Pike.

During Tuesday's meeting with commissioners, Menchhofer asked if that timeline had changed. Commissioners also declined to give any assurances about the move-out date, he said.

"We have been discussing options for a couple years, but now we are actively seeking funding so we can begin to make a move since we may need to be out of the Central Services Building as soon as the beginning of 2023," Menchhofer said Tuesday.

Under the COVID-19 update, public information officer Paige Keysor reported the newest deaths in the county involved two unvaccinated men ages 69 and 80; two unvaccinated women ages 64 and 87; and a fully vaccinated 86-year-old woman.

An outbreak at Celina Middle School declared on Sept. 10 is still active, with 36 cases among students and five among staff, Keysor said. The outbreak will remain open until the last infected person's quarantine ends.

Four of the COVID-19 outbreaks are in long-term care facilities. An outbreak at Briarwood Village, Coldwater, declared on Nov. 4 remains active, Keysor said. There have been four cases among residents and 11 among employees. Another outbreak at Celina Gardens opened on Nov. 9 has resulted in four cases among residents and five cases among staff, Keysor said. However, the outbreak at the Gardens will likely be closed if no further cases are reported by the end of this week, she said.

An outbreak was declared at Celina Manor on Nov. 10, netting two cases of COVID-19 among residents and four among staff.

Most recently, an outbreak at the Laurels of Shane Hill, Rockford, was declared on Tuesday. There has been one case among residents and one case among staff, Keysor said.

Finally, an outbreak at the Mercer Residential Services Inc. group home was declared on Nov. 24. There have been four cases of the virus among residents and one case among employees.

In a separate news release Wednesday, Keysor also reported 10 known hospitalizations, a cumulative 1,301 probable cases and 5,585 people who have recovered. Of the overall cases, 152 are active. There have been 82 reinfections of COVID-19 in the county.

There have been 134 confirmed and 42 probable cases of COVID-19 among fully vaccinated Mercer County residents, according to the release. Of those, 23 were hospitalized and have since recovered, and six have died.

Mercer County continues to have a high rate of community transmission.

The county had a rate of 388 cases per 100,000 people during the past seven days, up from last week's rate of 344 cases per 100,000 people. The county also has a test positivity rate of 20.29%, meaning one out of every five people tested is positive for COVID-19. The rate is down from last week's report of 23.75%.

A high transmission rate is defined by the CDC as 100 or more new cases per 100,000 people in a seven-day period or a test positivity rate of 10% or higher.

In other business, board members met in executive session for nearly two hours to discuss personnel employment and compensation. After exiting the session, board members approved four separate motions, Menchhofer said.

The first motion approved 5% raises for the 17 health district staff, with the exception of a few employees who have been hired or promoted within the past 60 days, Menchhofer said.

In the second motion, board members accepted the resignation of interim health commissioner Tim Barman, who served as the interim health commissioner for more than two years while Menchhofer completed his master's degree.

In their third motion, board members approved a five-year contract with Menchhofer as health commissioner effective Jan. 1, 2022, with an annual salary of $76,720.

In their last motion, board members approved a proposed 2022 health district budget.

Menchhofer said next year's revenue is estimated at $2.586 million, a decrease of more than $261,000 from 2021. Menchhofer said the decrease can largely be attributed to declining immunizations at the health district.

Immunizations at the health district had been on the decline even before the pandemic, Menchhofer said, as more area health care providers have started offering childhood and routine immunizations.

Expenditures for 2022 are estimated to be $2.175 million, which is down $118,000 from this year, Menchhofer said.

Board members also,

• accepted the resignation of part-time nurse Kim Haas.

• approve on third reading a resolution to reduce temporary food license fees from $45 to $25 and food vending machine license fees from $25 to $15.

• approved the 2022 meeting dates.

• noted the next board of health meeting is at 8 a.m. Jan. 12 in the first floor conference room of the Central Services Building.

COVID-19 cases/deaths:
Ohio cases 1,807,539
Ohio deaths 27,594
Mercer County cases 5,909
Mercer County deaths 109
Auglaize County cases 5,479
Auglaize County deaths 84