“Part of the health commissioner’s responsibility and powers, I don’t have very many, but one that I do have is to require people to stay in their homes or a designated place until they are better so they don’t spread a disease,” Butler County Health Commissioner Jenny Bailer said Monday.
She told the county commissioners her staff and volunteers are monitoring and staying in contact with those who need to be quarantined.
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“My staff makes calls at least once a day to everyone we’ve quarantined or isolated. It’s telephonic but they are required to check their temperature every morning and record their symptoms,” Bailer said. “Our capacity has been exceeded so we have volunteer school nurses who make those calls and check in on people. Then if they need things we are responsible for providing them.”
State laws say health departments and districts must provide “food, fuel, and all other necessaries of life, including medical attendance, medicine, and nurses when necessary.”
Middletown Health Director Jackie Phillips told the Journal-News that of 20 confirmed cases in the city, most have come off the two-week quarantine. The last residents currently quarantined will be released next Thursday. She said they have been “blessed” because there has been an outpouring of community support.
“Part of our script here is to let us know if you need anything,” Phillips said. “But everybody we’ve talked to either has church members, family members, they have a house full of food that they can stay in for months, they say. They have pretty much everything they need so far.”
She said her department tries to call everyone daily, but not everyone needs constant monitoring.
“If they’re nurses, they’re educated, if they’re completely secure and have resources, or if other people are kind of scared, it just depends,” Phillips said. “It depends, if they’re still symptomatic and very fragile, we call them just to see how their symptoms are doing and making sure they’re not getting worse.”
Brandon Saurber, public information officer for the city of Hamilton, said the city has about 40 people quarantined, including two Butler County Jail inmates, one who tested positive for the coronavirus and that man’s cellmate. The city has had 17 confirmed cases, four recoveries and one death.
“All in all, it’s estimated we’ve had around 70 under ordered quarantine since this began,” he said.
When asked via email, Bailer would not tell the Journal-News how many people have been quarantined so far or are isolated now. She issued a press release on March 19 announcing she would not grant media interviews while she deals with the pandemic but would answer questions during Facebook Live events she holds twice weekly with Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones and on Fridays with the Butler County commissioners.
During Tuesday’s Facebook Live, she did not respond to the quarantine question or about whether she is still receiving food assistance from food pantries for isolated residents.
Her office also issues more detailed epidemiology reports twice weekly. The report used to list positive cases by cities, townships and villages. The report now uses ZIP codes, which officials said matches how the state collects and reports data.
There were 22 cases listed on the April 9 report in the 45044 zip code, which has a population 52,822 and includes parts of Liberty Twp., Middletown, Lemon Twp. and other pockets of areas.
Butler County Prosecutor Michael Gmoser, who is technically Bailer’s attorney, said he wishes Bailer would go back to her original reporting method of using cities, townships and villages.
“I understand Jen Bailer’s concern for HIPPA and its implications with the identity of affected individuals and I will always follow her requirements,” he said. “However, I would prefer a much more localized geographic identification than a mere ZIP code, so our citizens have more certainty in avoiding those areas.”
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