Dr. Stephen Tharp, Clinton County Health Officer, confirmed the 1st case of COVID-19 in Clinton County. The Clinton County Health Department and Indiana State Health Department are working together to follow up on the case. The person has been referred to their primary care physician and is resting comfortably at home in quarantine.
Please see the full post from the Clinton County Health Department:
ATTENTION: If you are ill or experiencing signs and symptoms identified as possible COVID-19 and have respiratory…
Posted by Clinton County Health Department on Wednesday, March 25, 2020
The Community Schools of Frankfort announced meal delivery bus routes. Two buses will services the city, north, and south. This is in addition to the three school locations.
The meal distribution for all students will resume on Monday, March 30, 2020, to the three school sites as well as the new meal delivery bus routes.
CSF will deliver meals from 11am until 1pm from two school buses that will each make 9 different stops around Frankfort.
The meal delivery bus schedule is posted on the CSF school website. Meals will be available Monday through Friday.
The Frankfort Utilities is reporting that due to the COVID-19 outbreak, they have become aware of the increased use of “flushable” wipes and flushing of non-flushable materials such as baby wipes, disinfecting wipes, napkins, and paper towels.
While the “flushable” wipes concern is not new to wastewater facilities, we are instructing our community members to pay extra attention to what they are using and flushing and remind you NOT to flush anything other than toilet paper. The wipes and paper towels do not break down like toilet paper, and therefore clog systems very quickly.
The COVID-19 outbreak concern has created additional stress and uncertainty for everyone, and while they understand that supply shortages exacerbate these stresses and challenges, it is important to keep in mind that flushing anything other than toilet paper can create expensive and unsanitary problems for homeowners and businesses.
Flushing wipes (even those labeled “flushable”) and other non-toilet paper materials cause clogs, backups, equipment and pipe breakages, and in bad cases, can even force raw sewage back into peoples’ homes.
The cost to repair these damages is unfortunately borne by individual homeowners or the public.
As a reminder, the following products are NOT flushable, dispose of in a wastebasket:
o Paper towels
o Napkins
o Kleenex and other tissues
o Wet wipes/baby wipes (even those labeled as “flushable” wipes)
o Diapers
o Feminine hygiene products
o Gauze/Band-Aids
Thank you for helping keep our community and facilities clean and functioning! If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to the Wastewater Treatment Plant @ 765-659-4741.
“We are committed to the continuation of city services throughout this crisis and are encouraging residents to call our offices if they have a question or need assistance,” said Frankfort Mayor Judy Sheets.
Effective March 24, all city departments will be closed to the public. Frankfort residents are asked to conduct business by phone or email whenever possible. Phone numbers for all city departments are listed prominently on the city website and are being shared on social media. Emails can also be sent to the general email address: info@frankfort-in.gov.
The changes are to ensure the health and well-being of city employees and community members.
Sheets confirmed that regular city services, including trash and recycling collection, will continue with no changes in weekly collection schedules planned at this time.
And, City departments are implementing changes that reduce staff to essential employees only and allows some employees to work from home.
Sheets reiterated her commitment to working with local leaders, including Clinton County Commissioners, Emergency Management, and Clinton County Health Department saying, “This is a fluid situation with many changes and updates that require quick adjustments. We are dedicated to keeping our citizens informed on the precautions and steps being taken by city and local government to ensure the safety of our employees and the community.”
Clinton County COVID-19 Press Release
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic the Board of Clinton Commissioners instructed, via executive order, Clinton County Emergency Management Director Darrell Sanders to implement the County’s Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan. Director Sanders will activate and deactivate the portions of the CEMP that are needed to respond to the rapidly changing situation. Currently the Communications and the Health and Medical portions of the plan have been activated by the EMA Director. Clinton County Central Dispatch Director Renee Crick is in charge of the Communications portion, and Clinton County Health Department Administrator Rodney Wann is in charge of the Health and Medical portion.
It is important to note that the CEMP also includes all City of Frankfort Agencies and the input of Frankfort Mayor Judith Sheets. As we always have, everyone is working together for our community.
As of right now there are no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Clinton County. As more testing becomes available that statistic is likely to change. Dr. Tharp and Dana Longenecker of the Clinton County Board of Health have been working to make testing more readily available in Clinton County. The Clinton County Council took emergency action yesterday to make sure the funding is in place to be used to purchase tests if need be.
We would like to again ask that all citizens of Clinton County continue to adhere to the guidelines that have been issued by the President Trump, Governor Holcomb, and the CDC. The more stringently we adhere to recommendations the sooner we will defeat COVID-19.
One more thing, please resists the temptation and refrain from going to our local stores and hoarding items that everyone needs. We’ve said it before and it needs to be reiterated, that type of behavior has no place in modern civilized society. We all have families to look out for, but we also need to look out for each other.
Best regards,
Scott Shoemaker
Steve Woods
Joshua Uitts
Clinton County Board of Commissioners
At an emergency meeting of the Clinton County Council on Friday, March 20, 2020, funds were approved COVID-19 Pandemic supplies and services.
“The total money was funding for COVID-19 Pandemic supplies and services,” said County Councilman Jon Hussey. “Some was to replace funds that were already used but most was for the expenses to come.”
Those supplies should arrive in the coming week.
“From what I understand we are not sure of the exact date of arrival but supposedly this coming week,” said County Councilman Hussey.
On Monday, March 16, 2020, The Clinton County Health Department (CCHD) had previously reported making a request for supplies from the Strategic National Stockpile.
CCHD has stated Clinton County residents have been tested for coronavirus with no confirmed cases.
Effective 9:00 a.m. on Friday, March 20, 2020, the Frankfort Municipal Utilities lobby will be temporarily closed in response to COVID-19.
Payments will be accepted through their drive-up window form 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
You may also use the 24-hour dropbox.
Customers needing to establish a new service need to call the Utilities Office at 765-659-3361 to set-up an appointment.
As Clinton County officials, both County and City, take preemptive measures in dealing with COVID-19, Coronavirus, residents of Clinton County have undergone testing for the pandemic virus.
“There have been residents from Clinton Co tested and results thus far have been negative,” said Clinton County Public Health Nurse Dana Longenecker of the Clinton County Health Department (CCHD). This was as of 5:54 p.m. on Wednesday, March 18, 2020.
However, additional testing was approved by the State of Indiana on Wednesday and those results are pending.
“There were tests authorized by the state today [Wednesday] and those results are pending,” said, Nurse Longenecker.
Preparations are ongoing in Clinton County should an outbreak occur locally.
During the Tuesday, March 17, 2020, County Commissioners meeting Rodney Wann, Administrator/Environmentalist with CCHD, provided an update of the steps the County has taken.
“As of today [Tuesday], or late yesterday afternoon [Monday], we had distributed from our inventory 1,095 masks to various County and City agencies … as well as a few of the health care facilities and nursing homes,” said Wann. “We have also distributed, as of yesterday [Monday], about 500 pairs of gloves that we also had on inventory already. Again, to supplement those agencies that will need those.”
CCHD has also made a request to the Strategic National Stockpile for additional items.
“We sent in an order [to] the Strategic National Stockpile that has been set-up out of the CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]. We put in a request for the County as of yesterday [Monday] asking for an additional 2,000 more masks to be sent to this County as well as gloves, surgical gowns and additional items that are needed by health care. As well as about 4,000 swabs in the event Darrell [Sanders] and I and Dr. Tharp decide there is a need to do a drive-thru test clinic.”
Wann addressed the likelihood if drive-thru testing would be possible.
“So that is probably our next incident management situation. To determine whether we would be able to do those or not. That is still up in the air due to testing restrictions and limitations.”
The Emergency Operation Center (EOC) has been activated according to Wann. A component of the EOC is ESF-8, which is health and medical, and CCDH is taking part in the Center. “We are going to try and staff that as often as possible and not interrupt what operations that we have regularly going,” said Wann.
CCHD is working to establish a call center to allow the public to get answers to questions they may have.
“We are in the process of establishing a call center here in the county,” said Wann. “Because right now information is most valuable and right now the most varying element. So, we are working with several folks – including ACCS – to try and get a call bank set-up.”
“At that point, we will start staffing that regularly a few hours each day and a few hours each evening try to keep consistent information out there. I anticipate that being needed if we start doing drive-thru testing and, or 12-months from now or so – we, hopefully, have to start doing immunizations.”
Dr. Stephen Tharp, Clinton County Health Officer, also spoke to the Commissioners in regards to Commissioner Josh Uitts question about keeping the public and County employees safe when coming to the courthouse.
“It’s difficult to decide at what point we need to step-up to the next level,” said Dr. Tharp.
“We have not identified a case in the county. I don’t anticipate too many people from outside of the county to be gathering in official meetings and that sort of thing. But I think it is very important to be able to conduct business, to support our population in our county with what we need to do. So there is a balance and everybody has a different idea. The reality is that we should do the things that we can and keep in mind in taking care of ourselves as well.”
Commissioner Uitts addressed putting in place a plan to have those County employees that can work from home be able to do so.
Dr. Tharp added, “Clearly anything that can be done to limit the exposure is a good thing. We have to be flexible and recognize that there is a risk and also take the precautions that we can.”
In an announcement today, Wednesday, March 18, 2020, Mayor Judith Sheets stated all City of Frankfort Public Meetings will be canceled through April 4, 2020.
This decision comes in response to the continued spread of the COVID-19, coronavirus, and the Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH) directive to practice social distancing and limit the size of meetings and gatherings.
Residents are also encouraged to call city offices prior to visiting as many issues and concerns may be resolved over the phone.
Public meetings being canceled include:
• March 18 Board of Zoning Appeals meeting
• March 23 Board of Works and City Council meetings
• March 23 Redevelopment Commission meeting
• All City Court dates at Old Stoney through April 7.
City of Frankfort officials will reevaluate this policy on April 1 and will consult with local health officials and ISDH prior to making any additional changes.
During the next few weeks, city leaders will be working to implement audio and video options to provide remote access to individuals once public meetings resume.
