By L. Parsons Navajo County Public Health Director Jeff Lee addressed the Navajo County Board of Supervisors last week. Lee noted that, as of April 14, there were 355 confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 in Navajo County. That number has undoubtedly risen since press time and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future, according to Lee. “We are seeing a continued steady rise of cases throughout Navajo County,” he said, “We expected the peak this week but it has been pushed back to the week of April 30. We need to keep pushing that back to help our health care workers prepare.” Preparedness comes in many forms. One is the access to personal protective equipment (PPE), which has been an ongoing nationwide struggle. Lee said, “The Arizona Department of Health Services is telling us that we will receive another shipment of PPE. Not sure what or how much but we will get those items pushed out to our health care partners. Health Choice Arizona has announced that they will send us 3,000 surgical masks to push out to our partners as well.” The Public Health Department has taken other measures to prepare. Lee said, “We have moved our emergency operations center to Martinez Hall at the fairgrounds. This gives us space to physically distance and grow our team. We have added two national guardsmen to our team to help us with situational awareness in both Navajo and Apache counties as well as help with the distribution of resources. We are also in the process of having additional care sites surveyed in Winslow and Show Low.” Lee was asked by Supervisor Jason Whiting about testing and reporting. He asked, “Why isn’t the state reporting the number of people who have recovered from this?” To which Lee responded, “That is a challenging thing for us to report. I have been working with county officials to develop a way to report that. Organizations such as the Center for Disease Control (CDC) are collecting data and the guidelines are always changing. We also have individuals that have been isolating for three weeks now, there are a lot of different factors. We want to get that together so that we are all reporting the same way. Once we can get that information accurately, we want to push that out as soon as possible.” Whiting also expressed concerns over testing. Lee explained that health care workers, first responders and those at high risk were still being prioritized. “However, they all have to go through the same process as anyone else. They have to contact a health care provider and find out through a telephone triage if a test is needed or not. The health care providers are deciding who gets tested, and there are different matrixes for the different labs. State labs require the individual to be symptomatic, a private lab may not have that requirement.” Lee concluded, “despite rising numbers, data has shown that our mitigation efforts are working. There is evidence that the efforts to flatten the curve are working, but now is not the time to let up.” The board also approved the resignation of Navajo County Recorder Doris Clark, effective April 17 and the appointment of Michael Sample, who has been employed as a clerk with the Navajo County Superior Court Clerk for the past 10 years, to fill the remainder of the term ending Dec. 31, 2020. In other business, the Board: * Approved an intergovernmental agreement with AZDHS amending their contract for Public Health Emergency Preparedness. The amendment would permit AZDHS to work with the CDC on behalf of Navajo County to implement and scale-up laboratory testing and data collection related to COVID-19. * Approved an amendment to a professional services agreement with Paul Watson, authorizing services with Ironside Engineering and Development for a traffic statement. Watson’s contract will now include payment for services in economic development related to COVID-19. Watson will serve as liaison between the county and various federal, state, regional and local agencies to provide assistance to businesses in Navajo County. The contract amount is $10,000 per month. * Approved a grant application to replace three, 12-year-old Zoll E-Series monitor/defibrillators for the Heber-Overgaard Fire District. The grant, awarded by the Gila River Indian Community, is for $107,600 and requires a $10,000 input from the fire district. * Authorized overtime compensation to select exempt employees following the declaration of emergency on March 23. Approval only applies to hours worked over 40 that are in relation to work on COVID-19 and will last through the duration of the declared emergency. Employees paid additional compensation under this approval will be individually approved by the County Manager. * Approved a mutual aid agreement between the Navajo County Sheriff’s Office and the Hopi Tribe for coordinated law enforcement efforts on the Hopi Reservation. The Tribe, through Cross Commission, will grant the powers necessary to NCSO deputies providing the authority necessary to enforce criminal and traffic laws. * Approved an application for a treasurer’s deed for the board of supervisors on behalf of the State of Arizona. Liens not redeemed five years after the lien is assigned can be applied for on behalf of the state. This application is for deeds totaling $32,800. * Approved the March warrant and voucher report over $1,000. * Approved constable reports for March from the Show Low and Pinetop-Lakeside precincts. * Approved the reappointment of Jon H. Saline as a Judge Pro Tempore to serve the Superior Court from July 1, 2020, through June 30, 2021. * Approved back tax land parcels sold over the counter in the amount of $6,617. * Proclaimed April as Fair Housing Month in Navajo County. * Declared April as Child Abuse Prevention Month and declared April 12-18 as National Telecommunicator’s Week. * Renewed memorandums of agreement between Navajo County’s nutrition program and Holbrook Education Day Care Center, Holbrook Senior Citizens Center, City of Holbrook and Taylor Elementary School to provide nutritious food and nutrition information. This is an annual procedure. * Approved a three-year contract for banking services for the county with Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. * Approved an extension of a settlement offer to resolve the valuation of tax years 2018 and 2019 in the Transwestern v. Arizona Department of Revenue litigation following an executive session. The next meeting of the Navajo County Board of Supervisors will be at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, April 28.