05 Feb Group Size & Covid-19 Transmission!
San Miguel County Public Health says group size, time spent indoors and interaction outside of household members increases Covid risk.
Grace Franklin, County Public Health Director.
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Understanding the importance of mental and physical health, quarantine pods can effectively limit the risk of contracting COVID-19, while allowing people to have much needed social interactions with their friends and family. When considering pods during periods of high transmission, a commitment to interacting solely with one’s immediate household, including family or roommates in one home who live together, is advised.
Given the upcoming Super Bowl this weekend, San Miguel County Public Health and the Board of Health encourages residents to stay home, celebrate with family and roommates or opt to celebrate remotely via Zoom or FaceTime. Any increase in social contact is inherently riskier right now as San Miguel County is seeing the highest level of active cases throughout the county since the beginning of the pandemic.
“Your risk of transmission severely increases when sitting indoors in public spaces, such as bars and restaurants or visiting a friend’s house, when masks are not worn,” said Public Health Director Grace Franklin. “The prevalence and transmission of COVID-19 in San Miguel County is presently at a record high. Additionally, an infected person can be contagious two days before symptoms even show up.”
The risk of a sick person being present increases with the number of attendees and the number of active cases in the county. When the daily count of COVID-19 cases in a community is high, the likelihood of including an infected person in any large group also becomes high. Keeping groups small and consistent can reduce the number of uninfected people who come into contact with the virus.
“Similar to our other holidays and events over the last year, the Super Bowl needs to look a little different this year,” said San Miguel County Commissioner Lance Waring. “Gathering only with your immediate household is one thing you can do to limit your risk and other’s risk of exposure during this unprecedented spike in positive cases.”
While mitigation conversations continue regarding policy change, San Miguel County’s Board of County Commissioners is sending a plea to patrons, as well as bars and restaurants, to request their help in decreasing risk throughout Super Bowl weekend.
When considering celebrations for Super Bowl weekend, the amount of time spent in a space matters, especially when exposed to many people outside of a household without any of the five commitments in place. The more time spent in crowded places, close-contact settings or confined places with poor ventilation, further increases risk.
Public Health urges residents and visitors to protect themselves and others by staying home, reducing the size of their pods to just their household, ordering takeout and celebrating using virtual tools.
Public Health has confirmed 43 new positive cases of COVID-19 from test results received from February 2 through 5. Of these cases, 41 are confirmed as residents and all actively contagious cases are currently in isolation.
One active positive, a male in his 50s, is currently in the hospital due to complications from COVID-19.
San Miguel County Public Health has traced 153 resident positives over the last two weeks. There have been 754 total COVID cases among residents to date with 72 active cases.
To learn more about the county’s current COVID-19 metrics, please visit the County COVID-19 dashboard.
Five Commitments of Containment:
Wear a mask
Maintain six feet of physical distance
Minimize group size
Wash hands frequently
Stay home when sick and get tested
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