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DATE: |
February 8, 2022 |
16 |
SUBJECT
Title
RECEIVE UPDATE ON THE COVID-19 RESPONSE, RATIFY ACTIONS IN RESPONSE TO THE LOCAL HEALTH EMERGENCY AND LOCAL EMERGENCY, AMEND CONTRACTS RELATED TO THE COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO’S COVID-19 PANDEMIC RESPONSE, AND ADOPT A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING TELECONFERENCED PUBLIC MEETINGS (DISTRICTS: ALL)
Body
OVERVIEW
A novel coronavirus (COVID-19) was detected in Wuhan City, Hubei Province in China in December 2019. Since then, the virus has rapidly spread across the globe, resulting in the World Health Organization (WHO) declaring COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11, 2020.
On February 14, 2020, the San Diego County Public Health Officer issued a Declaration of Local Health Emergency, pursuant to California Health and Safety Code Section 101080. Additionally, on that day, pursuant to California Government Code 8630, the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), serving as the County of San Diego (County) Director of Emergency Services and as the Coordinator of the Unified San Diego County Emergency Services Organization, issued a Proclamation of Local Emergency regarding COVID-19.
The County continues to make significant efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19. Today’s actions request the San Diego County Board of Supervisors (Board) to receive an update on the local COVID-19 response and ratify all actions taken by the CAO, Public Health Officer, Director, Department of Purchasing and Contracting and Director, Department of General Services in response to the local health emergency and local emergency.
Additionally, the Board is requested to take the following actions:
• Authorize an amendment to the contract with Illumina, Inc. for additional consumables and supplies for molecular sequencing.
• Authorize an amendment to the contract with Helix Opco, LLC for laboratory testing.
• Authorize an amendment to the contract with Mobile Xpress Clinics for specimen collection services.
• Authorize an amendment to the contract with Hagerty Consulting, Inc. for cost recovery related to the County’s COVID-19 pandemic response.
• Adopt a resolution entitled RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING CONTINUANCE OF TELECONFERENCED PUBLIC MEETINGS PURSUANT TO GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 54953.
This item supports the County of San Diego’s vision of a just, sustainable, and resilient future for all, specifically those communities and populations in San Diego County that have been historically left behind, as well as our ongoing commitment to the regional Live Well San Diego vision of healthy, safe and thriving communities. This will be accomplished by protecting the health of residents against the COVID-19 pandemic.
RECOMMENDATION(S)
CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER
1. Receive an update on the COVID-19 Response.
2. Ratify all actions taken by the Chief Administrative Officer, Public Health Officer, Director, Department of Purchasing and Contracting, and Director, Department of General Services in response to the local health emergency and local emergency.
3. Ratify actions taken by the Director, Department of Purchasing and Contracting, in response to the local health emergency and local emergency and in accordance with San Diego County Administrative Code section 402 to amend Contract #559185 with Illumina Inc. for MiSeq Consumables and Maintenance and to amend the contract as needed to reflect changes to requirements and funding, subject to the approval of the Agency Director, Health and Human Services Agency.
4. Ratify actions taken by the Director, Department of Purchasing and Contracting, in response to the local health emergency and local emergency and in accordance with San Diego County Administrative Code section 402, to execute Contract #565965 for as needed laboratory testing with Helix Opco, LLC, and authorize the Director, Department of Purchasing and Contracting, upon successful negotiations and determination of a fair and reasonable price, to amend the contract to increase the contract amount up to $50,040,000, subject to the availability of funding, and to amend the contract as required to reflect changes in services and funding allocations, subject to the approval of the Agency Director, Health and Human Services Agency.
5. Ratify actions taken by the Director, Department of Purchasing and Contracting, in response to the local health emergency and local emergency and in accordance with County Administrative Code section 402 to amend Contract #565744 for specimen collection services with Mobile Xpress Clinics and authorize the Director, Department of Purchasing and Contracting, upon successful negotiations and determination of a fair and reasonable price, to amend the contract to increase the contract amount up to $13,517,500, subject to the availability of funding, and to amend the contract as required to reflect changes in services and funding allocations, subject to the approval of the Agency Director, Health and Human Services Agency.
6. In accordance with Board Policy A-87, Competitive Procurement, and County Administrative Code section 401, authorize the Director, Department of Purchasing and Contracting, upon successful negotiations and determination of a fair and reasonable price, to amend Contract #564118 with Hagerty Consulting, Inc. for cost recovery related to COVID-19 through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the U.S. Department of Treasury, American Rescue Plan (ARPA), and Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds, to increase the contract to a total amount not to exceed $8,150,000, subject to the availability of funding, and to amend the contract as required to reflect changes in services and funding allocations, subject to the approval of the Agency Director, Health and Human Services Agency.
7. Adopt a resolution entitled RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING CONTINUANCE OF TELECONFERENCED PUBLIC MEETINGS PURSUANT TO GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 54953.
EQUITY IMPACT STATEMENT
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the lives of individuals, businesses, and communities across San Diego County. In order to support the most vulnerable, an equity lens was used to prioritize, when appropriate, the distribution of COVID-19 response and recovery-related federal, State, and local funding and resources based on a data-driven approach, identifying communities that have the highest need for support in relation to the number of positive COVID-19 cases.
Through press conferences and presentations at San Diego County Board of Supervisors meetings, the County of San Diego (County) has been able to disseminate critical information about the efforts being done to address and combat the COVID-19 pandemic to a wide audience, as well as providing a forum to receive public comment. To continue the County’s commitment to transparency and open government and remove traditional barriers to access and participation in government affairs, today’s actions provide the mechanism to present an update on the current COVID-19 response efforts that have an impact on the lives of Black, Indigenous, People of color, women, people with disabilities, immigrants, youth, the LGBTQ community, and economically disadvantaged.
FISCAL IMPACT
It is estimated that through the end of fiscal year ending June 30, 2021, the County of San Diego (County) will have spent over $680 million on overall COVID-19 response costs, excluding federally dedicated program funds for programs such as rental assistance and nutrition services. Funding sources for County response costs included an allocation of CARES Act, Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF) revenue, General Fund Balance, Realignment, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funds, and program revenues available for response efforts. Also, as of March 3, 2021, funds allocated through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) are also available to fund County response efforts per direction from the San Diego County Board of Supervisors on June 8, 2020 (3). In Fiscal Year (FY) 2021-2022, the County will rely on ARPA funding dedicated for response costs, as well as other stimulus funds, program revenues, Realignment, and County General Fund Balance to cover response costs as needed. The County will continue to pursue other federal and State stimulus revenue and funding sources, including funds through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Recommendation #3: Ratify Amendment for Contract #559185 with Illumina Inc., for Consumables and Supplies for Molecular Sequencing
Funds for this request are included in the Fiscal Year 2021-2023 Operational Plan in Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA). If approved, this request will result in costs and revenue of approximately $1,777,566 in Fiscal Year 2021-22 and costs and revenue of approximately $385,000 in Fiscal Year 2022-23. The funding source is Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity (ELC) Enhancing Detection and Expansion grants, existing realignment, FEMA, ARPA, and any eligible Federal or State stimulus funding that might become available. There will be no change in net General Fund costs and no additional staff years.
Recommendation #4: Ratify and Amend Contract #565965 with Helix Opco, LLC for COVID-19 As Needed Laboratory Testing
Funds for this request are included in the Fiscal Year 2021-2023 Operational Plan in HHSA. If approved, this request will result in costs and revenue of approximately $17,190,000 in Fiscal Year 2021-22. The County will revisit resource needs for future fiscal years depending upon the progression of the pandemic. The funding source is the Immunization Cooperative Agreements, and any eligible Federal or State stimulus funding that might become available. There will be no change in net General Fund costs and no additional staff years.
Recommendation #5: Ratify and Amend Contract #565744 with Mobile Xpress Clinics for COVID-19 Specimen Collection
Funds for this request are included in the Fiscal Year 2021-2023 Operational Plan in HHSA. If approved, this request will result in costs and revenue of approximately $4,769,500 in Fiscal Year 2021-22. The County will revisit resource needs for future fiscal years depending upon the progression of the pandemic. The funding source is the ELC Enhancing Detection Expansion Grant and any eligible Federal or State stimulus funding that might become available. There will be no change in net General Fund costs and no additional staff years.
Recommendation #6: Authorize Amendment to Increase Funds for Contract #564118 with Hagerty Consulting, Inc.
Funds for this request are included in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2021-2023 Operational Plan in HHSA. If approved, this request will result in costs and revenue of $525,000 in FY 2021-2022. The County will revisit resource needs for future fiscal years depending upon the progression of the pandemic. The funding sources are FEMA and ARPA funds. There will be no change in net General Fund cost and no additional staff years.
BUSINESS IMPACT STATEMENT
This action will help support individuals, families and small businesses impacted by COVID-19.
Details
ADVISORY BOARD STATEMENT
N/A
BACKGROUND
A novel coronavirus (COVID-19) was detected in Wuhan City, Hubei Province in China in December 2019. Since then, the World Health Organization (WHO), and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have declared COVID-19 a public health emergency. On January 30, 2020, the WHO declared the outbreak a “public health emergency of international concern.” On January 31, 2020, HHS Secretary Alex M. Azar II declared a public health emergency for the United States to aid the nation’s healthcare community in responding to COVID-19. Since then, the virus has spread rapidly across the globe, resulting in the WHO declaring COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11, 2020.
On February 14, 2020, the San Diego County Public Health Officer issued a Declaration of Local Health Emergency, pursuant to California Health and Safety Code Section 101080. Additionally, on that day, pursuant to California Government Code 8630, the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), serving as the County of San Diego’s (County) Director of Emergency Services and as the Coordinator of the Unified San Diego County Emergency Services Organization, issued a Proclamation of Local Emergency regarding COVID-19. The requirements to renew the Declaration of Local Health Emergency and Proclamation of Local Emergency for COVID-19 were waived on March 4, 2020, due to the Proclamation of a State of Emergency for California by Governor Gavin Newsom. On March 19, 2020, the State of California public health officials issued an order for anyone living in the State to stay home, except for those providing essential services.
As with other areas throughout the nation, there is community transmission of COVID-19 in San Diego County. The County has made significant efforts to “flatten the curve,” slowing down the spread of the virus, which in turn helps to avoid an increase in the cases that overwhelm the healthcare system. For this reason, the San Diego County Public Health Officer continues to issue and amend Public Health Orders to enhance efforts to protect the health of the public.
Ratify the Contract Amendment with Illumina, Inc. for Consumables and Supplies for Molecular Sequencing
The County Public Health Laboratory currently has a contract with Illumina Inc, #559185, which is used to support molecular sequencing of infectious diseases and SARS-CoV-2 testing samples. If approved, the amendment to the contract will add funding to purchase additional supplies required for sequencing positive samples. In addition, due to the latest surge of COVID-19 testing, the added supplies will help to perform more sequencing tests to meet the demands of the surge of COVID-19 and the COVID-19 variants.
Contract #559185 with Illumina Inc. requires an amendment to increase the current funding to meet the current COVID-19 testing and sequencing demands and will continue to increase due to COVID-19 variants. Today’s actions request the San Diego County Board of Supervisors (Board) to ratify the amendment of the contract to increase funding and to authorize future contract amendments to increase funding.
Ratify and Amend Contracts with Helix Opco, LLC for as Needed COVID-19 Laboratory Testing and Mobile Xpress Clinics for Specimen Collection
The services for COVID-19 specimen collection and laboratory testing were competitively procured. The Mobile Xpress Clinics (MXC) contract, for specimen sample collection at County hosted sites, was executed on November 1, 2021. The contract with Helix Opco, LLC (Helix) to test specimen samples was executed on January 1, 2022. Helix provides testing of the COVID-19 specimen samples collected by MXC. Helix will also provide support to the County’s Public Health Laboratory (PHL) in times of increased demand for COVID-19 testing and will provide support if the PHL were to become inoperable. These services address the current demand for COVID-19 testing and epidemiological surveillance to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 infection.
The initial projections for MXC and Helix contracts were based on data available at the time of the procurement. Since those dates, the demand for COVID-19 testing has increased and continues to increase due to COVID-19 variants. The contract with MXC was amended to increase the number of COVID-19 specimen collections and the contract with Helix was amended to increase the number of COVID-19 testing of specimen samples. Today’s actions request the Board to ratify the contracts with Helix Opco, LLC and Mobile Xpress Clinics, and to amend the contracts with Helix Opco, LLC and Mobile Xpress Clinics to increase the amounts of the contracts for COVID-19 specimen collection and COVID-19 testing of specimen samples.
Authorize Amendment to Contract with Hagerty Consulting, Inc.
Hagerty Consulting, Inc. has developed their experience in the disaster recovery field since their inception in 2001 and has played direct roles in the nation’s top 10 costliest disasters. Since 2016, Hagerty Consulting, Inc. has supported the County Office of Emergency Services to achieve goals and objectives such as Staff Augmentation, Mitigation Program Support, and Workflow Development. Hagerty Consulting, Inc. is an expert across the entire scope of post-disaster recovery management and utilizes a process/system to prioritize and efficiently submit state and federal grant applications, identify eligibility of current and future projects, capture costs, prepare cost reports, develop narratives, reconcile invoices, and close-out projects.
Hagerty Consulting, Inc. assists County departments with preparing claims, reconciling COVID-19 funding sources, and cost recovery from The U.S. Department of Treasury (American Rescue Plan Act Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds) and The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Additionally, Hagerty Consulting, Inc. has provided consultation on various large scale County efforts such as COVID-19 Testing, COVID-19 Vaccinations, Non-Congregate Sheltering, Great Plates Delivered Program, and Guidance on American Rescue Plan Act Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds. Hagerty Consulting, Inc. has provided and continues to provide support for recovery efforts to ensure compliance under State and federal aid programs.
Today’s actions request the Board to authorize an amendment to contract #564118 with Hagerty Consulting, Inc. to increase the contract to a total amount not to exceed $8,150,000, subject to the availability of funding, and to amend the contract as required to reflect changes in services and funding allocations, subject to the approval of the Agency Director, Health and Human Services Agency.
Adopt a Resolution Authorizing Teleconferencing
Since March 2020, the Board and its associated commissions, governing bodies, and advisory boards have conducted meetings remotely (or have a mixed attendance of in-person and remote Board members) in accordance with previous Executive Orders issued by the Governor. Assembly Bill 361 became law on September 16, 2021 and allows local agencies subject to the Brown Act to continue remote attendance for meetings under simplified procedures, but only if either: a) there is still a “statewide” emergency, and State or local officials have imposed or recommended measures to promote social distancing, or b) the Board finds that “meeting in person would present imminent risks to the health or safety of attendees.” (Gov’t Code 54953 (e) (1), added by AB361). On September 23, 2021, the Public Health Officer issued a letter recommending the utilization of teleconferencing options for public meetings as an effective and recommended social distancing measure to facilitate participation in public affairs and encourage participants to protect themselves and others from COVID-19.
Today’s actions requests the Board, also sitting as the legislative body of the Housing Authority of the County of San Diego, County of San Diego In-Home Supportive Services Public Authority, San Diego County Fire Protection District, San Diego County Sanitation District, San Diego County Flood Control District, and the County of San Diego Successor Agency to the County of San Diego Redevelopment Agency, adopt a Resolution that will allow the Board to continue to utilize teleconferencing under simplified procedures. To continue to use the simplified teleconferencing procedures, the Board will need to act no less than every 30 days to reaffirm the authorization of teleconferenced public meetings.
The County also has many other boards, committees, and commissions subject to the Brown Act, and this Resolution is, to the extent legally possible, intended to make the required findings on their behalf. However, it is recommended that each of these legislative bodies subject to the Brown Act also make findings consistent with AB 361.
Requested Actions Related to the Continuation of the County’s Pandemic Response
Today’s actions request the Board to receive an update on the local COVID-19 response and ratify all actions taken by the CAO, Public Health Officer, Director, Department of Purchasing and Contracting and Director, Department of General Services in response to the local health emergency and local emergency.
LINKAGE TO THE COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO STRATEGIC PLAN
Today’s proposed actions support the Equity and Community initiatives in the County of San Diego’s 2022-2027 Strategic Plan, as well as the County of San Diego’s Live Well San Diego vision, by protecting the population from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Respectfully submitted,
HELEN N. ROBBINS-MEYER
Chief Administrative Officer
ATTACHMENT(S)
Attachment A - RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING CONTINUANCE OF TELECONFERENCED PUBLIC MEETINGS PURSUANT TO GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 54953