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File #: 20-3738   
Type: Staff Briefing - Without Ordinance
In control: Community Health and Equity Committee
On agenda: 6/16/2020
Posting Language: A briefing by the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District providing updates on the COVID-19 Community Response Coalition [Colleen M. Bridger, MPH, PhD, Assistant City Manager; Dawn Emerick, Ed.D, Director, Health]
Date Ver.Action ByActionResultAction DetailsMeeting DetailsVideo
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DEPARTMENT: Health

DEPARTMENT HEAD: Dawn Emerick, Ed.D, Director

COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: Citywide

SUBJECT: A briefing providing updates on the COVID-19 Community Response Coalition workgroups

SUMMARY:
Metro Health will provide a briefing to update the progress made by the 5 workgroups as a part of the COVID-19 Community Response Coalition set up by the Health Transition Team's Implementation Plan.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
The COVID-19 Testing Task Force was first convened by Metro Health on March 18, 2020 to bring together laboratories, hospital systems, health care providers, community based clinics, and representatives from the Emergency Operations Center to assess the testing capacity for COVID-19 in San Antonio and Bexar County. The COVID-19 Testing Task Force was comprised of 16 healthcare sector organizations conducting COVID-19 specimen collection within Bexar County, and 16 laboratories conducting COVID-19 testing.

The COVID-19 Testing Task Force established the following five priorities:
1) Increase community testing with faster throughput;
2) Continuously evaluate testing criteria to meet community needs;
3) Increase health care provider education and engagement in testing;
4) Establish a self-screening website as a touch point for the community; and
5) Address barriers to testing within vulnerable populations.

As of June 1, the COVID-19 Testing Task Force has broadened its role (and changed its name) to provide oversight and coordination of all health sector partners involved in the monitoring progress and warning indictors, specimen collection and laboratory testing for COVID-19, ensuring adequate case investigations for all positive cases to identify their contacts, developing local policy and health alerts as well as coordinating education and enforcement activities.

This broader COVID-19 Community Response Coalition (CCRC) will be the central body where all stakeholders and agencies involved in COVID-19 response are communic...

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