The National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) has been releasing bi-weekly blogs consisting of an up-to-date collection of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) resources for our members working at the intersection of environmental health and COVID-19. See past resource roundups here.
Across NACCHO
See What’s New to NACCHO’s Environmental Health & COVID-19 Resource Library!
- Monitoring Wastewater to Inform COVID-19 Public Health Response. Source: Healthy Davis Together. Guidance and sample communications to support the implementation of wastewater monitoring and prevent the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
- Green Cleaning, Sanitizing, and Disinfecting: A Curriculum for Early Care and Education. Source: Western States PEHSU. Information on how to keep ECE environments clean and safe while using practices and products that are less hazardous to health and the environment.
- Safer School Re-openings: A guide to returning to in-person learning during COVID-19. Source: Healthy Davis Together. This guide is designed to help K-12 educators, leaders, and partners in other communities develop safe school reopening plans with the goal to return to full-time in-person learning.
- Webinar: Reducing Virus Transmission, Improving Ventilation and Promoting Healthy IAQ in Schools. Source: EPA. This webinar will highlight risk reduction strategies and IAQ management best practices for building operations to reduce the risk of exposure to COVID-19 and promote healthy indoor air in schools.
NACCHO COVID-19 Webinar: Infection Prevention and Control in Schools
The National Association of County and City Health Officials invites local health department leadership and staff to participate in a webinar, Infection Prevention and Control in Schools, on Thursday, June 10, 3:00-4:00 pm ET. As more schools return to in-person learning, the work of balancing the best possible education while keeping students and staff safe has become even more challenging. The Infection Prevention and Control in Schools Task Force, led by Danielle Allen, James Bryant Conant University Professor and Director of the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard University, will discuss a roadmap that will support education and public health leaders in building the organizational capacity and partnership needed for maintaining healthy schools in this pandemic and the next.
NACCHO Webinar: Regional Approach to Infection Prevention and Control of COVID-19
COVID-19 continues highlighting the critical role of infection prevention and control (IPC) in healthcare settings. In this webinar on June 24, 3:00-4:00 pm ET, two local health departments, Pima County (AZ) and Hamilton County (OH), will discuss their efforts to build a regional approach to IPC and share lessons learned and successes.
Pima County will discuss needs of the border region, the regional partnerships they developed, and future directions for IPC in various congregate settings in the border region. Hamilton County will review its multi-pronged approach to improving IPC education, including how it kept staff informed of changes in best practices and how it collaborated with stakeholders, such as The Health Collaborative, Infection Preventionists in local hospitals, and Regional Epidemiologist and Disease Investigators. Hamilton County will also discuss the abundance of resources it created that have been shared regionally.
NACCHO Webinar: Building Vaccine Confidence for COVID-19 Vaccines in Adolescents
NACCHO invites local health department leadership and staff to participate in a webinar, Building Vaccine Confidence for COVID-19 Vaccines in Adolescents, on Tuesday, June 22, 3:00-4:00 pm ET. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration expanded the emergency use authorization (EUA) for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine for the prevention of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) to include adolescents 12 through 15 years of age. During this webinar, Pfizer will provide a vaccine confidence overview, discuss the importance of COVID-19 vaccination in adolescents, review Pfizer BioNTech adolescent clinical trial data for ages 12-15, and provide Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 storage and handling updates. Please note: this webinar will NOT be recorded. Only registered participants will be able to join.
Podcast from Washington: Vaccinating the 12 – 15-Year-Old Population
In this week’s episode of Podcast from Washington, NACCHO government affairs team members Ian Goldstein and Eli Briggs discuss the reintroduction of the Public Health Workforce Loan Repayment Act by Reps. Jason Crow (D-CO); alongside Dr. Michael Burgess (R-TX); Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Chair of the Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee; and Brett Guthrie (R-KY), Ranking Member. They discuss the next steps for passage and how NACCHO members can help the bill cross the finish line.
Next, NACCHO Senior Director of Infectious Disease and Informatics Lilly Kan pays tribute to former NACCHO employee James “JR” Ransom, Senior Analyst for Immunization and Infectious Disease Policy, who recently passed. She reflects on his time at NACCHO and all the great work he did in local and global immunization and infectious disease efforts.
Later in the Program, Ian Goldstein talks with Dr. Ying Ying Goh, Director and Health Officer of the Pasadena Public Health Department. They discuss the Food and Drug Administration’s recent Emergency Use Authorization for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for adolescents 12 - 15 years old. Dr. Goh shares how her local health department is collaborating with schools and other partners to vaccinate children and adolescents.
From the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Webinar: Community Exposure for COVID-19 (June 16 at 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM ET)
EPA researchers have been working on a variety of projects to learn more about SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, to help states, tribes and communities make sound public health decisions. This webinar will discuss research that sheds light on community exposure of SARS-CoV-2, including virus detection in wastewater, standardized methods for quantifying the virus in wastewater, development of salivary antibody assays, and transmission of the virus through airborne particles. Register for the Community Exposure for COVID-19 webinar.
From the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Vaccinating Migrant/Migratory and Seasonal Food and Agriculture Workers: This guidance addresses the unique challenges in and best practices for providing vaccines to migrant/migratory and seasonal food and agriculture workers.
Guidance for Operating Youth Summer Camps: Guidance has been updated with strategies to promote vaccination, planning and preparing for camp, updated guidance on mask usage and trips outside of camp, and more.
