Ventura County responded quickly and effectively to the COVID-19 pandemic but struggled at times to find protective equipment, enforce public health orders and meet an unprecedented demand from the public for information, according to an 85-page report on the COVID response.
The after-action assessment by public health crisis consultants Constant Associates will be discussed by the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday. Based on documents, interviews, surveys and focus groups, the report evaluates business shutdowns, vaccination distribution, shortages of masks and language barriers that affected the flow of information.
The report praises the county for meeting the pandemic head-on, citing a task force of leaders formed on March 2, 2020, after a county resident who had taken a cruise was diagnosed with the area’s first known case of the coronavirus. It cited a “dynamic approach” of deploying nearly 800 county employees to disaster service jobs ranging from manning COVID test sites to tracing the contacts of people who tested positive.
But the deployment also caused misunderstanding. Many employees were unaware their jobs included a requirement to serve as disaster workers, the report says, calling for more training in the future.
The report identifies several areas of improvement in the county’s COVID response:
- Public health officials faced barriers created by undefined levels of authority and at times had difficulty procuring supplies.
- The county faced challenges in enforcing restrictions on businesses and others, creating public skepticism and social media scrutiny.
- Communication teams were too small to meet the overwhelming demand for information.
- The county lacked a clear command hierarchy that impacted real-time decision making.
The report praised the county’s efforts to provide up to $10,000 in grants to businesses affected by the pandemic shutdown. It also pointed at language barriers.
“Some Ventura County business owners did not speak English and lacked in-house translation services. As a result, the county experienced difficulty determining the appropriate number of languages for translating grant materials,” the report says.
Though the county worked to help businesses, it was obligated to comply with state mandates for closures, the report says. Some businesses, especially those in entertainment and recreation, were hit so hard they shut down permanently. In the first month of the pandemic, unemployment tripled.
Some of the challenges focused on public perceptions. Surveys showed many county residents felt the vaccine rollout didn’t meet the needs of vulnerable populations. Many people said there weren’t enough vaccine sites.
“However, the county could not establish more vaccine sites initially due to a low supply of vaccines from the state,” the report says. Authors praised outreach vaccination efforts to farmworkers and others.
Motel managers resisted renting rooms the county wanted to use in a Project Roomkey effort aimed at homeless people and others at high risk of COVID, the report says. They feared occupants struggling with mental health or substance abuse issues would damage the rooms. The county addressed the concerns by renegotiating contracts with higher daily rates and damage waivers.
Nursing homes pushed back in accepting COVID patients transferred from Ventura County Medical Center, the report says. Long-term care leaders worried about increasing the risks of an outbreak. State public health officials tried to alleviate the rift.
Much of the report focused on strengths. County employees received praised for adjusting to pandemic challenges with tireless work and a “can do” attitude. Information technology staff gained kudos for leading the shift to virtual work from remote sites.
The county acted “swiftly and decisively” in partnering with school districts to protect students and staff, the report says. But it also called for more support for the schools especially in mental health services.
Constant Associates is set to be paid $227,000 by the county for the report, which is designed to serve as a planning tool. Part of the Board of Supervisors discussion on Tuesday is expected to focus on next steps.
The many recommendations in the report include clarifying the role of the county executive officer in a disaster response, establishing protocols for reserve supplies of protective equipment and starting a task force focused on enforcement of public health orders.
Tom Kisken covers health care and other news for the Ventura County Star. Reach him at tom.kisken@vcstar.com.
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