MOUNT VERNON – The $1 million in pandemic relief grants Knox Public Health received in 2020 helped staff deal with COVID relief, contact tracing, testing and — finally, late in December — starting vaccination clinics.
The agency combined two years of annual reports to its District Advisory Council when the pandemic delayed its 2019 report, said Pam Palm, the agency’s public information director.
After helping guide residents and businesses on dealing with COVID-19, the agency now runs walk-up vaccination clinics that complement Knox Community Hospital’s vaccinations by advance registration.
Total revenue for 2020 was $6.6 million, compared to the almost $5.4 million received in 2019. Expenses last year were slightly higher at nearly $5.6 million.
The county’s first COVID-19 case was reported on March 20, 2020, and the first county resident’s death was on April 1, 2020 — a Knox resident living in Florida. The first in-county death came on July 8, 2020.
Deaths from COVID-19 complications reached 62 as of Dec. 31, with 72% of deaths being patients over the age of 75. The youngest death was of a person aged 56. Total cases reached 2,396 by the end of the year.
Palm said she thought it was poignant that 2019 was the 100th anniversary of the organization of public health in Ohio. The pandemic of 1918 triggered the public health laws and regulations.
“It was like we are 100 years later on and we’re back where we started,” she said.
Some numbers were drastically lower, such as food inspections, which fell from 1,084 inspections down to 559 last year with many restaurants closed for much of the year.
Community-based events were down from 28 to 10 with no fairs or festivals.
The number of births rose by 40 in 2020 to reach 459.
“We are seeing what we call a COVID baby boom,” Palm said. That includes the Amish community, which was largely responsible for the increase in home births, from 27 in 2019 to 43.
Cancer deaths for 2020 were a lot higher, more than doubling from 63 to 130 last year. Big increases were seen for lung, prostate, oral and liver cancers.
One thing the health agency discussed but hasn’t verified is that people who were told to stay home and hospitals dealing with COVID-19 patients may not have seen their doctors when they should have, Palm said.
Even though the dental clinic was closed for three months, the 3,624 patients who were seen in 2020 were almost as many as those in 2019.
Patient visits to the health clinic increased to 7,410 during 2020, much higher than the 5,876 actual visits in 2019. That was attributed to telehealth visits.
Knox Public Health hired more health counselors in 2020 to meet the increase in behavioral health visits that rose by nearly 1,000 in 2020 to reach 2,285.
“A lot of that had to do because, obviously, people have mental health issues during COVID, and continue to do that,” Palm said.
Outreach to the community soared in 2020 through the agency’s online presence. The total Facebook reach of 2.7 million was almost 2.3 million more than in 2019.
