County Health Dept. downgrades COVID-19 threat

The Allegan County Emergency Operations Center has moved to a state of partial activation after being fully activated since March 21.

The county’s EOC was fully activated to help with Allegan County Public Health Department’s efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19.

Health officials said the reduction was a response to decreased demand on the center’s resources. The reduction took effect at midnight on Wednesday, June 3.

Meanwhile, the number of Coronavirus cases in Allegan County as of June 4 was reported to be 221, with just six deaths.

Moving to partial activation means the EOC would continue to monitor the situation and convene when necessary to assess and coordinate efforts, although the Public Health Operations Center would remain fully active.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, Allegan County health officials said 19 EOC volunteers had provided more than 551.5 hours of service to Allegan County, as well as more than $16,545 in support.

They completed a number of tasks for the county, including:

• Pickup and delivery of supplies and personal protective equipment
• Helping to construct protective barriers for polling centers
• Maintaining the Special Needs Registry, making more than 1,419 phone calls to the county’s special needs population
• Providing technical support to the EOC
• Assisting with inventory management of personal protective equipment

“This is a step in a positive direction, related largely to the community’s social distancing behavior however, we are not completely out of the woods,” Angelique Joynes, Allegan County health officer, said. “We will only be as successful as mitigation continues with social distancing, hand hygiene, cleaning, and staying home if you’re sick or exposed.”