LISBON — The Columbiana County Health District Advisory Committee did not reach a quorum on Monday, but officials in attendance heard an update on the health district’s activities, including the latest COVID-19 numbers.

Of the 29 members and one county commissioner representing each township and village served by the health district, convened to review the service agreement between the City of Columbiana and the county health district. Only 14 people attended the special meeting. It was one short of a quorum and could not vote on the contract.

The meeting has been rescheduled for September 19th at 6:00 pm at the Department of Health at 7360 Highway 45.

County Health Commissioner Wes Vins took the opportunity to share some information, showing a chart and numbers of 2022 COVID-19 cases in the county. From January 1 to September 8, the total number of infected people was 7,553, the number of hospitalizations was 156, and the number of deaths was 78.

In the last 30 days, from 8 August to 8 September, there were 774 COVID-19 cases, 13 hospitalizations and only 1 death.

“We know there are many unreported tests going on.” Vince said.

Public health centers have free test kits. There will also be clinics for COVID primary and booster vaccines and flu vaccines. Details will be announced on Wednesday.

In a public health update for other areas, Vince said there were no monkeypox cases in the county and no vaccine for monkeypox was available in the county.

Required immunizations for returning to school are declining, partly because he believes people have gotten out of their habits because of the pandemic, but the health department is making sure that back-to-school is available to those who need it. We have a vaccine.

He pointed out that according to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, kennel waste is to be landfilled. On the issue of dogs and cats, he announced that there will be a department-sponsored rabies vaccine clinic at the county’s Career and Tech Center on Oct. 8. Dogs and cats must be kept on a leash.

Vins said the health department was collecting mosquitoes and testing them for West Nile virus, which was detected in the county. Powassan virus was first detected in Ohio, but tests on collected ticks were negative for Powassan and positive for several strains of Lyme disease.

Vins called on residents to protect themselves from both West Nile and Lyme disease. Mosquito and tick tips can be found on the district’s website (columbiana-health.org), along with the results of recent community health assessments.

Prior to the meeting, plaques awarded to the currently accredited county health districts were passed around the room for the Board of Trustees to see.

“We are really proud of our recognition award. A lot of work has been done for it.” Vince said.

In the final slide of his presentation, he showed a graph illustrating costs per resident for county health districts, including the cities of Salem and East Liverpool, and other regional health districts in the area. For the county, the 2021 inclusive tax bill came to $383,000. This is the tax that is used for the health district’s general fund operations and does not include subsidies. For the county, the per capita cost equates to him $5.06 based on a population of 101,877.

“I think it’s worth a lot here in Columbiana County.” he said the dollar “Very cost effective.”

According to the graph, Salem has a population of 11,915, and with a tax payment of $61,515, the cost per resident is $5.16. For East Liverpool with a population of 9,958, the inhabitant tax is $122,904, which translates to a cost per inhabitant of $12.34.

mgreier@mojonews.com