photo by: Contributed and Journal-World File Photos

Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health Director Dan Partridge is pictured along with the department's home in the Community Health Facility, 200 Maine St.

Local health departments are helping lead efforts within communities to curb the spread of the coronavirus, which as of Saturday had infected at least eight people in Kansas.

Health departments in Kansas have the authority to cancel public events and isolate individuals, per the advice of their health officer. On Friday afternoon, Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health ordered the closure of all K-12 schools, indoor parks and recreation facilities and public libraries for two weeks.

Dan Partridge, director of Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health, answered questions from the Journal-World on Friday afternoon about the department’s response to the coronavirus. Partridge has worked in public health since 1991 and was named director of Douglas County’s health department in 2007.

Who within the department has the authority to cancel public events?

Kansas grants county health officers the authority to isolate ill people, quarantine healthy people and cancel public events or gatherings, Partridge said. Lawrence’s health officer is Dr. Thomas Marcellino. Per his advice, the health department canceled Tuesday’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade and shut down K-12 schools, public libraries and parks and recreation facilities.

Marcellino was appointed as health officer in 2012 by the Lawrence-Douglas County Health Board. He received his medical degree from the University of Kansas School of Medicine in 2005. Dr. Christopher Penn, who specializes in infectious diseases, serves as his backup when needed.

What does the health department have the authority to cancel?

While the health officer has the authority to cancel public events or gatherings, it seems the department does not have the authority to shut down a business.

When asked if this is a possibility, Partridge responded, “Our approach is to isolate and quarantine individuals.”

He said he has been working with the Lawrence chamber of commerce to “encourage businesses to prepare a continuity of operations plan should they experience a high number” of employee absences.

Numerous residents reached out to the Journal-World with concerns over work spaces such as call centers, where employees sit within 6 feet or less of one another. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that people stay at least 6 feet apart to prevent the spread of the illness.

Does the health department have enough equipment and supplies to take care of sanitization needs?

Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health does not have the staff or equipment to sanitize buildings or public spaces, Partridge said. The organization employs 41 people.

“We encourage organizations to review or develop a plan for how they can accomplish (sanitization),” he said.

After the cancellation of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade, should residents expect to see the cancellation of other large events?

The health officer defines large gatherings as including more than 250 people, Partridge said, and on Friday evening, Marcellino prohibited public gatherings larger than this size.

“The time to institute this social distancing is before we see the instance of community spread, and we are taking these measures to limit large crowds and seek to help stem the outbreak of COVID-19,” Partridge said in a news release Friday evening.

In that same release, Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health recommended that daycare centers close for 14 days, retirement communities and long-term care centers only allow essential visitors and that people avoid large gatherings, including sports practices, games and tournaments.

What is happening within Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health on a day-to-day basis in response to the coronavirus?

Partridge said that the health department has not yet curtailed any of its services “but as we continue to shift more resources to coronavirus response, we have a plan to do so.”

Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health offers clinic, family planning and immunization services, among others.

Partridge said front-line staffers have continued with their daily work, while the leadership team has devoted most of the last few weeks to planning for the coronavirus by “developing communication messages for the public as well as a variety of stakeholder sectors.” Partridge defined these stakeholder groups as partners as Douglas County, the City of Lawrence, Douglas County Emergency Management, LMH Health and the University of Kansas, among others.