HOLLAND TWP., MI (WHTC-AM/FM) - Although the COVID 19 outbreak has garnered much of the attention of the Ottawa County Department of Public Health, of.
Pandemic boom of at-home caterers, cooks presents legal issue
OTTAWA COUNTY One pandemic-fueled craze is presenting legal challenges for local health departments: the sale of home-cooked food.
As hundreds of Michigan residents have been forced to spend more time at home, many of them have taken their love of cooking to a new level launching catering services, packaged meals and drinks from the comfort of their own kitchen.
But selling those items, especially online, could lead to trouble with the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, which handles food service licensure.
According to Michigan s Cottage Food Law, passed in 2010, a small category of prepackaged food may be sold from home. While most bakers operating under Cottage Law have a presence on social media to reach customers, sales cannot be made directly online, such as through Facebook Marketplace.
A variety of household, farm and small business waste chemicals, electronics, metals can be recycled or properly disposed of for free or a small fee through the Ottawa County Department of Public Health’s Environmental Sustainability Program.
Public health can be directly connected to the sustainability of our environment. If one is strained, the other will be as well.
Proper management of used materials can lead to a better and more sustainable environment and keep people healthy.
Items like sharps, electronics, food waste, scrap tires, used oil, household hazardous waste, and metals have other places to go than landfills.
Those items can be reintroduced into markets, the environment, or disposed of properly, thus reducing their impacts on our environment and extending the material’s lifespan.
Walk-in vaccine clinic open at Holland Hospital Urgent Care
Sentinel Staff
Holland Hospital Urgent Care is located at 3232 N. Wellness Drive in Holland.
The clinic is offering the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine for walk-in patients from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day this week, through Friday, May 14.
Although the clinic will take walk-ins, appointments can be scheduled for the clinic on the OCDPH website. Appointments are open between 8:15 a.m. and 4:15 p.m.
As of Tuesday, May 11, 45.7 percent of Ottawa County residents had been fully vaccinated and a total of 54.2 percent had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
WEST OLIVE After a third surge in COVID-19 cases in March and April, Ottawa County health officials say local data shows signs coronavirus trends are improving.
According to data from the Ottawa County Department of Public Health, the county has a seven-day average of about 84 new COVID-19 cases per day, as of May 10. That s down from 184 cases per day April 13.
Deaths and hospitalizations have stabilized in the county, and those metrics typically lag behind case counts. Per local data, 21 percent of ICU beds in Ottawa County were occupied by COVID-19 patients on May 10.
OCDPH Senior Epidemiologist Derel Glashower said during a May 11 board meeting data suggests increased vaccination coverage is a contributing cause toward the improving metrics.