Santa Cruz County Grand Jury
• 2020-2021
Chasing the Pandemic Role of Testing and Contact Tracing
⚠️ Translation Notice: This content has been automatically translated. The original English text is the official version. Translation may contain errors.
⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
Findings and Recommendations 4 findings
F1
The Health Services Agency of Santa Cruz County’s web page listing COVID-19 testing sites does not adequately help residents find an appropriate testing site to fit their needs.
Related Recommendations (1)
R1
Within the next 3 months the Health Services Agency of Santa Cruz County should revise its web pages to help people find a testing site suitable to their requirements. Listing sites without characterizations is not sufficient. (F1)
F2
The Health Services Agency of Santa Cruz County’s Save Lives Santa Cruz County webpages do not adequately publicize and inform the public of the critical work that is being done, nor do they reflect the crisis the county has gone through.
Related Recommendations (3)
R2
Within the next 3 months the Health Services Agency of Santa Cruz County should publicize the Save Lives Santa Cruz initiative beyond what is currently on their website. For example, they should publish the Save Lives weekly operational review for the public to see the behind the scenes work that is happening. (F2)
R3
Within the next 3 months the Health Services Agency of Santa Cruz County should prepare weekly highlights from the Save Lives periodic reports for public consumption. (F2, F4)
R4
Within the next 3 months the Health Services Agency of Santa Cruz County should provide a regularly scheduled and recorded video report available to the public on the county website. (F2, F4)
F3
Establishing the COVID-19 testing laboratory at University of California at Santa Cruz is a great example of cooperation among the university and public agencies in the county. The laboratory has received considerable attention but the cooperative effort among the County Public Health Division, Community Foundation of Santa Cruz County and UCSC has not.
Related Recommendations (1)
R5
Within the next 3 months the Health Service Agency of Santa Cruz County should create a press release detailing the support that was provided for the UCSC Laboratory. (F3)
F4
The Santa Cruz County Public Health Division is staffed by well trained, skilled and knowledgeable professionals who applied that talent to help protect the residents of Santa Cruz County during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Related Recommendations (2)
R3
Within the next 3 months the Health Services Agency of Santa Cruz County should prepare weekly highlights from the Save Lives periodic reports for public consumption. (F2, F4)
R4
Within the next 3 months the Health Services Agency of Santa Cruz County should provide a regularly scheduled and recorded video report available to the public on the county website. (F2, F4)
Conclusions 1
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CL1We found that the Public Health officials in the county government are experienced professionals who met high expectations and, acting early and wisely, did mitigate the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic by promoting testing and tracing in Santa Cruz County. The county instituted a pandemic crisis management initiative called “Save Lives Santa Cruz County,” much like a crisis center established during a wildfire to coordinate the effort of the wide range of agencies each independently doing their part to blunt the effects of the pandemic.
Commendations 1
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CM1C1. The Public Health officials in Santa Cruz County reacted early and effectively to reduce the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The professionals were well prepared to respond quickly. (F4) C2. The University of California at Santa Cruz Molecular Diagnostic Laboratory established a COVID-19 testing facility to make short turnaround testing available for the underserved in Santa Cruz County. (F3) C3. The Santa Cruz Community Foundation and the Santa Cruz County Public Health Division teamed with the UCSC Molecular Diagnostic Laboratory to establish a commercial COVID-19 testing laboratory and provided funding and advice. (F3)