HomeMy WebLinkAboutIR 088 INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 22-088
To the Mayor and Members of the City Council June 21, 2022
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A.
krA SUBJECT: UPDATE ON THE CITY'S COVID-19 RESPONSE
The purpose of this Informal Report is to provide an update on the City's COVID-19 response efforts.
Tarrant County Public Health (TCPH) is the City's primary public health provider. In addition, Code
Compliance works with other counties/agencies that provide similar services within the City Limits. As a
collaborative agency, the City also works with local universities and healthcare providers/systems. This
arrangement recognizes that these agencies have an expertise that cannot be easily duplicated or
generally distributed across a very large and diverse City.
However, in a state of emergency, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, where public need/demand
overwhelms traditional providers, additional support and/or resources from the City and others may be
required.
As the health care demand fluctuated (COVID-19 waves/variants), the City increased and decreased
support operations accordingly. The impact of these waves/variants on public health services and
healthcare systems has steadily decreased as vaccination rates and mitigation strategies have increased.
As a result, there is not a significant gap currently for the City to fill. Therefore, the City has stepped down
the Joint Emergency Operations Center and only a limited number of City staff and temporary workers
remain attached to the response.
TCPH now offers COVID-19 vaccines as a part of their standard immunization services at Immunization
Clinics throughout the county. They also operate a mobile vaccination clinic that travels throughout the
county and continues to host pop-up clinics by request. The federal government has recently released
additional/free at home test kits and testing/vaccination services can be found at traditional pharmacies,
healthcare providers, and others with low and no-cost options available.
Code Compliance will continue to operate the City's COVID-19 Hotline (817-392-8478) and is actively
monitoring community demand for COVID-19 testing and vaccinations. Through the COVID-19 Hotline,
community members can receive: education, assistance with COVID-19 resources such as free rapid and
PCR test access, vaccination clinic locations and vaccine verification/records.
The City will continue to keep residents in the loop and provide public education through our various
outlets, stand ready to participate in community meetings and events, collaborate with other agencies and
doing everything we can to further increase vaccination rates/better public health (currently 62% for fully
vaccinated residents over 5 years old in Tarrant County).
The City remains vigilant and prepared to assist with any future service gaps/demands. As part of this
"stand-ready" phase, staff are conducting after-action activities to include updating public health
emergency response plans. At the same time, our partners at Tarrant County Public Health, adjoining
counties and healthcare systems are doing the same thing. This is resulting is greater preparedness and
future capacity building.
Questions on this material should be addressed to Brandon Bennett, Code Compliance Director at (817)
392-6322.
David Cooke
City Manager
ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS