Allamakee County Public Health STILL strongly encouraging everyone to continue the practice of personal precautions throughout entire county
Low COVID-19 case numbers in some communities not a reason to ease personal mitigation measures
Allamakee County Public Health’s highest priority is the health and well-being of the community. That local health department strongly encourages everyone to follow all Iowa Department of Public Health and Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines to help prevent contracting or spreading the Coronavirus.
With the recent release of the Allamakee County COVID-19 statistics by zip code, many phone calls and reports have been received by Allamakee County Public Health from people concerned that businesses and citizens in areas with few cases are no longer taking the personal protective precautions to keep themselves or others safe from contracting the virus. Allamakee County Public Health strongly encourages the continuation of all safety precautions previously put in place that have, quite possibly, played a part in the reason case numbers in some communities are low.
“We cannot stress enough how important it is to keep wearing the masks, washing your hands, social distancing and frequent sanitizing of high touch surfaces for all local businesses and all citizens who are out in the public,” states Lisa Moose, Director of Allamakee County Public Health/Veterans Memorial Hospital Community and Home Care. “There are still many asymptomatic people that test positive for COVID, which means they show no symptoms of the virus whatsoever, yet they are contagious. So it is important to take these precautions to help reduce your risk of contracting the virus from them and becoming ill, even though they are not.”
Public Health also explained that it is very important for anyone who has had the virus, and their close contacts, to follow instructions given to them to decrease the spread of this disease.
“For these reasons, even though some smaller towns in our counties have had very few cases, or maybe even no cases, they still need to follow the precautions,” adds Sheryl Darling-Mooney, Public Health Supervisor. “In addition, we are just entering our tourist season and any of those visiting our beautiful county coming from other areas may be bringing the virus with them as they visit. So again, we are strongly urging EVERYONE to continue to take all the necessary personal precautions.”
Below is the Iowa Department of Public Heath recommendations for preventing the spread of COVID-19, and Allamakee County Public Health encourages everyone to follow this protocol:
• Everyday prevention methods are very important, such as:
- Wash your hands frequently.
- Stay home if you are ill.
- Cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue.
- Perform routine cleaning.
• Routinely clean frequently touched surfaces (e.g., doorknobs, light switches, countertops) with the cleaners typically used. Use all cleaning products according to the directions on the label.
• Stay home if you have any symptoms, such as:
- Even people who are mildly to moderately ill need to stay home and isolate themselves from others in their house until:
º They have had no fever for at least 72 hours (three full days of no fever without the use of medicine that reduces fevers); AND
º Other symptoms have improved (for example, their cough or shortness of breath have improved); AND
º At least 10 days have passed since your symptoms first appeared.
• Lastly, always remember to socially distance, leaving six feet between yourself and others, and keep all gathering to 10 people or less.
For more information, call Veterans Memorial Hospital Community and Home Care/Allamakee County Public Health at 563-568-5660.
