NEW YEAR AND NEW MEMBER
Councilor sworn in and Covid-19 report.
The first order of business at Wednesday evening’s meeting of the Salmon City Council was the swearing in of former/new council member Russell Chinske. He took the pledge by telephone and agreed to the rules to be followed in order to be a City Councilor.
Chinske served as a councilman from 2014 to 2018 when he chose not to run for office again. He is a teacher at the Pioneer Elemental School in Salmon’s School District 291. He will serve for one year which is the remainder of late Councilman Ken Hill’s term in office. Ken Hill’s four-year term would have been up in January 2024. As per Idaho requirements of appointees, Chinske will be in office until the next election which will be in November of this year. The council seat will be on the ballot as a two-year term.
During the council’s Roundtable Discussion councilors Jim Bockelman and Neal James welcomed Chinske back to the council and City Attorney Fred Snook commented he thought that Hill would be pleased. He said Hill had indicated to him he thought a lot of Russ.
Hill was the council’s president and during the meeting the council unanimously voted for Councilor Fred Waidely to be the new Council President.
District 7 Regional Director of Eastern Idaho Public Health Geri Rackow told the council the health of Lemhi County is looking good and is under the ten per 10,000 population rate of Covid-19 infections. The Governor’s Committee on Priorities is scheduled to meet in a few days, Friday, to reexamine the ratings. Last time the Public Health Board met County Commissioner Ken Miner, the county’s representative on the Board, urged that the local rating remain where it is in the yellow range due to the overcrowding of hospitals in surrounding areas and the fact this hospital would have nowhere to send local patients in need of ICU services.
Rackow said there have been a few new local cases of Covid-19 however; the number of cases testing positive is dropping. She hopes that continues although results of holiday gatherings are yet to be fully known.
The first 90 doses of vaccine were received December 14 and she said they were quickly distributed. The second doses are due to be given next week. Hospital workers, medical providers, the out-patient clinical staff, long-term care medical facilities, dentists, pharmacist’s, and EMS volunteers were among Idaho’s number one priority group. That grouping is being constantly reviewed Rackow said Idaho has received fewer doses than originally anticipated but as soon as they are received, they are distributed. Locally 89 vaccinations have been administered. Rackow said the Eastern Idaho Public Health Office has a web site where information is added on a daily basis.
Councilor Robin Phillips asked if Lemhi County would soon be moved to a ‘Green’ rating and Rackow said that’s to be discussed this week. Councilor Jim Bockelman asked how Idaho is doing in getting the vaccines distributed and she said things are generally going smoothly. She said Eastern Idaho Public Health was given 1100 doses to cover the eight counties in the district and EMS people are helping to get the vaccines to those who are in line to receive them. Bockelman also asked if it is true that a person has to have had a flu shot to get the vaccine and she said ‘no.’ “You do not have to have a flu vaccine before you have a Covid-19 vaccine. The only interaction with the Covid vaccine is, you cannot get a Covid vaccine if you’ve had any other vaccine within 14 days prior. So, if you’ve had a flu shot within the last two weeks, then you would not be eligible to get a Covid vaccine until 14 days have passed.”
Steele Memorial Hospital CEO Jeannie Gentry added that some people in the priority group have declined the vaccine so that shot is moved to the next candidate. There is no requirement to get a vaccination. She added, it will be several months before vaccinations are available for everyone.