Iron County cancels flu shot clinics

By RICHARD JENKINS

[email protected]

Hurley — The Iron County Health Department is canceling its remaining drive-thru flu shot clinics, department officials announced Tuesday, and hopes to reschedule the events later this season.

“All vaccination clinics have been canceled. As vaccine becomes available, we will plan to reschedule them,” an official said in the news release. “While we are waiting for vaccine, we encourage residents to seek other options including your health care provider, other open flu clinics, White Cross Pharmacy, Walgreens and Walmart.”

Health Department officials said their understanding is the company that provides the vaccines is having trouble getting them to Iron County.

“They're saying, 'It's not a shortage, but we've got distribution issues,'” said Zona Wick, the department's public information officer during the coronavirus pandemic. “So we have absolutely no vaccine here at the health department, except (some intended for children) …We have no adult vaccines here so that's why we've been forced to cancel them.”

Wick said she hopes the vaccines will arrive soon but the department is waiting until it actually has the vaccines in-hand before announcing new events.

“Until our vaccine is here and delivered, we are not going to schedule any flu clinics,” she said.

The department is encouraging people to get the flu vaccine as they work to prevent flu outbreaks while the pandemic remains a threat.

Coronavirus

Iron County has had a total of 155 residents test positive for COVID and another 10 probable cases, as of Tuesday. Of those, 15 cases are considered active.

Wick said residents need to be aware that the virus is still present in the county.

“We had a couple quiet weeks in September and the first part of October, but our numbers this week have been rising,” Wick said. “We're considering ourselves on the uptick again.”

As of Tuesday, eight of the county's cases have required hospitalizations and the single death is the first case from late March.

Wick said there's no specific event the recent uptick can be traced to, but the department continues to warn against gathering indoors.

“Currently the disease activity level of COVID-19 in Iron County is on the rise and going to a gathering puts you at very high risk of exposure,” Health Officer Katie Hampston said in a release. “We know gatherings are a key way this virus spreads, so we must ask people to limit indoor gatherings to stop the spread, reduce illness and save lives.”

She said department staff continues to be busy with contract tracing efforts.

“Positive cases are one thing, that's one person. But then each person has many contacts that we have to call and follow up for, and we quarantine them also,” Wick said.

The virus has again closed the nursing homes in the county to visitors, according to Wick, and the Hurley K-12 School said Tuesday it was sending a kindergarten class home after a student tested positive.

“We were notified today of a student in kindergarten testing positive for COVID-19. While working collaboratively with the Iron County Health Department, it was decided to quarantine the entire class of 12 students considering the age of these children and their close proximity to one another,” Hurley Administrator Kevin Genisot said in a letter to parents posted on the district's Facebook page.

He said the district would normally only notify parents of students in the same grade as a student who tested positive, however, he said the letter was intended for everyone, “So everyone better understands the system we use and the reasons why we make the decisions we do.”

He said in other situations the district staff is able to determine the specific people who came in close contact with a student who tested positive and only those students would need to be quarantined.

Those students who are quarantined are given instructions on how to continue their education during that time, according to Genisot.

Michigan

In Michigan, the Western Upper Peninsula Health Department reported Monday that Gogebic County has had a total of 199 positive and probable cases. Of that number, 151 cases were considered recovered, one was a death, 25 were considered non-active and not yet recovered, and 22 were considered active. Ontonagon County has had a total of 58 cases as of Monday, with 40 recovered, seven non-active and not yet recovered and 11 active cases.

The five counties the department serves — Baraga, Gogebic, Houghton, Keweenaw and Ontonagon — have combined for a total of 1,131 cases. This includes 453 recoveries, 510 non-active and not yet recovered, 159 active cases and nine fatalities. Houghton County accounts for five of the nine deaths in the region, with three in Baraga County and one in Gogebic County.

Officials in both states continue to urge people to wear masks, practice social distancing and frequently wash their hands as these remain the best strategies to combat the spread of the virus.