10.g Staff report Winter 2022 Events
Staff Report
Date of Meeting: January, 18th 2022
To: City Council
From: Mike Hinz, Fire Chief
Re: Winter 2022 Event COVID Rules
Background:
We have been living with COVID-19 since January of 2020 with the first outbreak happening in
March of 2020. Over the summer of 2021 we did see a dramatic decrease in the infection rate in
our area. We all believed that with vaccination we would continue to see a decrease in the
infection rate.
We now have the new Omicron variant affecting our area. This new variant has sent us back to
the infection rates we were experiencing in November-December of 2020. Washington county
currently has a positive test rate of 7% which is considered to be a High level of community
transmission. Even though this variant does not seem to have as high of a mortality rate for the
vaccinated, we do need to keep reviewing our rules.
With this returning level of transmission in the county and the fact that events are moving back
indoors due to weather. I reached out to the county department of health and did some research
on updated protocols for events and gatherings. I found that the new variant has seen a lot of
break-through cases in vaccinated people. We have also seen many city, county and state
meetings going back to virtual. With that information we as leaders need to keep informed of
these changes and adapt to keep our community safe.
I have included a copy of the response I received from the County Health Department and a copy
of the information on events from the state health department web site for event sponsors
Issue:
Should the council make any changes to the city COVID plan and allowable events?
We have multiple events in the near future. The lion breakfast, MN cup, Winterfest, Fireman’s
Ball (as I write this, we are considering canceling this event again this year)
Proposal Details:
I am presenting this information to the council for your review and deliberation.