CHW Holiday Safety Message, Dec. 25

CHW release – During the Holidays we want to remind you to be safe and take appropriate precautions to protect your friends and family. Coos County has been experiencing a higher amount of COVID-19 in our community recently and there have been many questions about where it is coming from. Most people are catching COVID from people who do not know that they are sick. Because COVID-19 is contagious for at least 48 hours before any symptoms are felt, it is easily spread from person to person. The longer you interact with people from outside your household, the higher your risk. Shorter periods of contact, such as passing someone in a store, are lower risk. Here are some local examples of how COVID-19 was transmitted: The doctor’s office where two friends stopped and talked because they hadn’t seen each other in several months. Neither one felt sick and never considered the virus was being shared along with updates about their families. The gym where two friends worked out without masks together for one hour. Within 24 hours one came down with COVID-19. Within 6 days the other friend did too. An office where a worker came to work after being exposed, worked and talked with many different departments and caused 20 people to be placed in isolation. The restaurant where a group of community leaders went to lunch. They sat and ate together for just over an hour. Within the next ten days, more than half had tested positive for COVID. The restaurant where out of town guests met with a local family. Despite talking from separate tables and maintaining distances, they shook hands as they parted. No one knew they were sick and certainly did not mean to put their friends at risk. The places where this occurred are not to be blamed for the transmission of COVID-19. They just happen to be places that we tend to gather to visit or work closely together. Keep your risk low by: Wearing your mask when interacting with those from outside your household. Keeping your distance from those outside your household.