Mary Ferdon
The native COVID-19 Neighborhood Activity Drive has determined to place its web site that included knowledge on neighborhood transmission of the virus on “pause” as a consequence of low site visitors.
Final month, town of Columbus, Bartholomew Consolidated Faculty Corp. and Columbus Regional Well being collectively agreed to place the web site on “pause” for now, stated Mary Ferdon, town’s government director of administration and neighborhood growth.
Over the course of the pandemic, the web site, covid19communitytaskforce.org, has contained periodic updates of COVID-19 hospitalizations at Columbus Regional Hospital and different metrics, hyperlinks to digital press conferences with native officers, details about small enterprise loans, updates from native well being officers, hyperlinks to vaccination websites, amongst different data.
Presently, the web site states that it “is now not being up to date,” however nonetheless consists of hyperlinks to details about COVID-19 testing, vaccines, the Indiana Division of Well being’s COVID-19 dashboard, in addition to some data in Spanish.
“The site visitors to the location was minimal, and it made extra sense to direct individuals wanting extra data on testing and vaccinations to varied websites that are linked on our web site,” Ferdon stated. “These websites embody CRH, the state of Indiana, the (Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention.) We even have a hyperlink in Spanish for our Spanish-language residents.”
The web site was launched on March 24, 2020, shortly after the formation of the neighborhood process power because the preliminary wave of COVID-19 swept throughout the nation.
The duty power, which was shaped in February 2020, consists of representatives from CRH, the Columbus mayor’s workplace, Bartholomew County Well being Division, Bartholomew County Emergency Administration, BCSC and Cummins Inc.
The duty power has met quite a few instances since then to debate and coordinate the community-wide response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In April, the duty power scaled again neighborhood transmission reporting primarily based on CDC’s metrics for neighborhood danger.
The choice from the native process power comes because the Indiana Division of Well being introduced final month that it might cut back its statewide COVID-19 dashboard and solely replace it weekly on Wednesdays, as a substitute of each weekday.
Over the previous month, COVID-19 has killed two Jennings County residents, one Bartholomew County resident and one Jackson County resident, in accordance with the newest replace on the Indiana Division of Well being’s statewide dashboard.
Over roughly the previous week, COVID-19 hospitalizations at CRH have hovered between 5 and 7, the hospital stated. There have been six individuals hospitalized at CRH with coronavirus infections on Thursday, together with one particular person listed in crucial situation.
A complete of 252 Bartholomew County residents have died from the virus for the reason that pandemic started.
