THE PANDEMIC ONE YEAR LATER: HOW PRIMARY PARTS OF THE OCHD
EMERGENCY RESPONSE PLAN HAVE BEEN SERVING RESIDENTS

(Toms River) – It all started in March one year ago; the COVID-19 pandemic was coming our
way, creeping into Ocean County case by case. An unprecedented public health crisis that
impacted everyone and everything we do. The Ocean County Health Department (OCHD) was
prepared for its arrival with emergency response plans (ERP) in place, but no one could predict
what would transpire over the following 12 months.

“The OCHD watched closely how the pandemic was evolving overseas and its spread across the
country and how those public health agencies were dealing with the outbreak,” explained Daniel
Regenye, OCHD Public Health Coordinator/Health Officer. “We certainly hit the ground
running and haven’t slowed down since day one of the pandemic. I’ve been extremely pleased
with our dedicated staff; appreciate all the community partnerships we’ve had prior to the
pandemic and the new relationships we cultivated over the year. But, most importantly, I’m very
appreciative of the cooperation and support we’ve received from our residents despite the many
challenges they’ve had to face on a daily basis.”

Some of the many important pieces that the action plan rolled out over the course of the year
included dedicating special task force teams to provide guidance and support for school nurses
and administrators and the 54 long-term care facilities in the county.

The OCHD was also one of the first counties in the State to implement a Contact
Tracing/Disease Investigation Institute to train the more than 60 contact tracers counted on
throughout the pandemic. Meanwhile, the OCHD contact tracing program has reached out to
thousands of people working day and night to mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 virus and
will continue well into 2021.

Another critical part of the ERP is for the emergency preparedness unit, nursing department and
communicable disease staff to implement specific clinics to handle the emerging needs of the
community. As COVID-19 converged with the influenza season, the OCHD held 32 flu vaccine
clinics at different sites throughout Ocean County for the general public while also
accommodating the homebound, homeless and individuals with particular needs. The flu vaccine
clinics ran from October thru the end of December 2020 administering more than 1,100 doses to
residents during a time when people needed it more than ever.

For 50 weeks leading up to now, the COVID-19 drive thru & indoor testing sight at Ocean
County Community College held more than 165 clinics resulting in close to 30,000 residents
being tested.

Once a COVID-19 vaccine was approved last December, the OCHD responded with its first
vaccination clinic right before the New Year at the RWJ Barnabas Health Arena at Toms River
High School North. Despite extreme shortages of supplies of weekly vaccine, the OCHD opened
a second site shortly after at Southern Regional Middle School in Manahawkin. About 12 weeks
and 82 clinics later, the OCHD has administered more than 63,000 first and second doses of the
vaccine. Moving forward, the OCHD is expanding its COVID-19 vaccination clinic services

with a third site at Manchester Elementary School. Additional clinic sites are also being set up
throughout the county to accommodate more senior communities and special needs populations
as well as the remainder of vaccine eligible individuals.

To accommodate the anticipated calls from residents and clinicians with COVID-19 questions
and seeking guidance, the OCHD established a COVID-19 Information Hotline and email
address early in the pandemic. The hotline became so successful that the hotline phone system
eventually had to be upgraded to handle the high volume of calls. Since March 15, 2020 to
March 10, 2021, the hotline has logged more than 54,820 calls while receiving 10,446 emails.
Data and statistics are always an essential part to the ERP. The COVID-19 dashboard on the
OCHD website offers residents a snapshot from many of the important data sets behind the
pandemic. The dashboard and website have been a consistent and reliable go-to source for
residents with 1.2 million visitors and 1.3 million page views from March 8, 2020 to March 14,
2021.

Sharing the most up-to-date news, guidance, education and other crucial pandemic information
to the public is an on-going essential effort. The OCHD established a free mobile phone app and
its public information/risk communications team reached residents through the mass media by
issuing 388 daily media advisories and 90 press releases and more than 1,100 Facebook and
812 Twitter posts during the pandemic. Dozens of educational videos and public service
announcements were also produced for social media and the OCHD YouTube channel; several
airing on numerous local radio stations and cable television networks.

The pandemic also impacted the two Ocean County Animal Facilities. Open public hours were
changed to appointment only and employee work shifts were adjusted. However, the changes did
not adversely affect the number of adopted shelter pets. Residents adopted 964 cats and dogs
from March 2020 to March 2021.

“That’s only a slight decrease from the amount of adoptions from the prior year – which was
anticipated due to the significant decrease in impounds. We really didn’t know what to expect,
but many people told us they wanted to use all the time spent at home to adopt while they had the
opportunity to train and bond with a new four-legged member of the family,” added Brian
Lippai, OCHD Public Information Officer.

“As much as we may train and prepare for these events, there will always be times when you’ll
have to tweak or deviate from the best laid plans,” added Regenye. “We have to be flexible and
evolve just as the virus itself and the medical research behind it. You’re always pleased when
something works according to the way it was originally laid out, but you learn to adapt very
quickly and the OCHD will continue to do so as we navigate the latest chapter of the pandemic.”

For additional information please visit us at www.ochd.org or the OCHD Facebook page. OCHD
COVID-19 Information Hotline: 732-380-5079 (local) and 833-544-0288 (toll free).