At Wednesday’s Washington Court House City Council Meeting, City Manager Joe Denen asked the community to listen to our local health department, Fayette County Public Health, and its director, Leigh Cannon, as the current situation with coronavirus (COVID-19) progresses.
Denen explained, “the nurses and staff of Fayette County Public Health are here for you. They are public health professionals and the only thing they care about is the health of our community. No grandstanding motivation or glory-seeking exists. The question is public health.”
Denen went on to say that the community needs to cooperate with and follow the directives coming from FCPH. This includes not ignoring information being provided from it.
According to Denen, the city, itself, is committed “to be disciplined in coordinating communications” with the organization concerning COVID-19.
“I need every member of our community for the next several weeks, and perhaps longer, to listen to Leigh and Fayette County Public Health. You must act upon what Leigh and Fayette County Public Health asks of you,” he said. “All of us are in this boat together and we will row this boat together.”
FCPH has been working closely with several local and state organizations to stay up-to-date on the situation, changing policies and to implement different plans. Some of these organizations include Fayette County Emergency Management Association, Fayette County Memorial Hospital, and the Ohio Department of Health.
There are several ways community members can stay up-to-date on current information. Some of these ways are by checking the FCPH website, www.faycohd.org, along with following the FCPH Facebook page, “Fayette County Public Health-OHIO,” following the EMA Facebook Page, “Fayette County Emergency Management Agency,” following FCMH Facebook page,”Fayette County Memorial Hospital.”
Following local news sources such as the Record-Herald (www.recordherald.com, Facebook page “The Record Herald Washington Court House”), WCH TV (Facebook page, “WCHC TV”), WVNU (Facebook page, “WVNU Lite 97.5fm”), and Buckeye Country (Facebook page, “Buckeye Country 105.5FM”), is another great way to keep informed as the various organizations work closely with local media.
Several of these entities and businesses also have social media accounts on other platforms for those who do not utilize Facebook.
A few other organizations that community members should consider following to stay up-to-date is the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office, Washington Court House Police Department, Washington Court House City Schools and Miami Trace Local School District.
Two websites that FCPH suggests using for updates are the Ohio Department of Health webpage, www.coronavirus.ohio.gov, and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) webpage, www.cdc.gov.
General questions pertaining to COVID-19 can be directed to the ODH COVID-19 Call Center, 1-833-4-ASK-ODH.
