Douglas County Officials Hold Taskforce Meeting On Coronavirus

DOUGLASVILLE, GA—Douglas County Board of Commission Chairman Dr. Romona Jackson Jones convened a Coronavirus Task Force meeting on Thursday with key county officials who provided updates to Chairman Jones on measures being implemented to prepare for a potential COVID-19 outbreak.

“As of now, we do not have any active COVID-19 case in Douglas County,” Chairman Jones said. “But after meeting with officials at Cobb and Douglas Public Health, we just want to make sure we emphasize the practice of every day preventive behaviors like staying home if sick, covering coughs and sneezes and frequently washing hands with soap and water.”

County Administrator Mark Teal, Emergency Management Agency Director Jason Milhollin, Fire Chief Scott Spencer, Director of Communications and Community Relations Rick Martin and Facilities Manager Mark Price took turns briefing Chairman Jones on actions each have taken to implement safe and healthy measures suggested by Cobb and Douglas Public Health Department.

Chairman Jones, who serves on the Board of Directors for Cobb & Douglas Public Health and has spent some 40 years in the healthcare industry before being elected to office, called for the meeting to make sure communication was occurring across the board in local government. Chairman Jones shared with the taskforce that she met with Sheriff Pounds who informed her he’s ramping up cleaning efforts at the jail.

County Administrator Teal shared how he provided Cobb and Douglas Public Heath guidelines internally to County department heads. “Specific precautionary guidelines of how to clean polling places from the Cobb and Douglas Public Health Department have been provided to Milton Kidd, Director of Elections,” Teal said.

Fire Chief Spencer discussed what steps paramedics are taking to utilize extra safety precautions for the screening of patients on emergency calls. Douglas County Emergency 911 dispatchers have been given specific questions on whether they have been out of the country and what symptoms are the patients exhibiting.

Emergency Management Agency Director Milhollin stated how he has met with Cobb and Douglas Public Health Emergency Preparedness group and is satisfied with the thorough communication updates from the state and CDC. “State lab and the CDC are the only location that can test the kits,” Milhollin said. “There no medications or vaccines to treat the virus itself, but officials are working on it.”

“Every possible question on the coronavirus can be answered by the CDC or Cobb and Douglas Public Health’s websites.” Martin said. “The easiest way for a resident of Douglas County to get information or have a question answered on the coronavirus should visit www.celebratedouglascounty.com, www.cdc.gov, and www.cobbanddouglaspublichealth.com

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