Our citizens have done an excellent job following state CDPHE/SJC Public Health guidelines to protect our community during this global pandemic.
To date we’ve had only one local reported COVID-19 case which was an antibody test which met criteria to be considered “probable”. Also, this information means we have not had a reported active positive case which demonstrates the superb job our citizens have done.
This is not the time to let down our guard. The threat is still real. As we come to the brink of taking the first steps to re-open our town, we must continue our stellar efforts and do everything in our power to keep our town safe. If we don’t, we risk a potential outbreak of the virus during the height of our tourist season. Nobody wants that.
This virus is highly contagious. It continues to spread throughout our state, country and the world. There are no vaccines or approved definitive treatments yet.
We know carriers of the virus can be asymptomatic and because of this it is my hope all businesses in town will require all patrons to wear masks to enter.
We also know active COVID-19 carriers (symptomatic or asymptomatic) who are not wearing a mask easily spread the virus. Any carrier not wearing a mask puts our entire community at risk. Requiring masks shows respect for everyone — all customers, families, business owners and their employees.
I realize some do not agree with this position but those folks risk having their other customers, themselves, their families and employees catch this virus which will result in missing work, potentially for a long period of time. Businesses with small staff numbers may even have to close down for a period of time. God forbid anyone of those folks ends up in an ICU or worse.
I also know some business owners will be concerned about losing potential business by customers refusing to come in their establishment if they are required to wear a mask. That potential exists and is bound to happen, but it is also true a business may lose customers if they don’t require masks and that too is bound to happen. Think about that. In these difficult times I believe those business that can promote themselves as doing positive protective measures will prevail.
You may ask why I feel so strongly about the potential for these risks. EMS and Law Enforcement have already dealt with 5 or more COVID-19 related cases putting at risk all of those on scene and potentially the community at large. So, it’s already come here.
All of those cases occurred while we were closed down. The most recent case had just tested positive for active COVID-19 just two days before coming to our town. The individual was from out of state and was still in the “contagious” window when they entered town businesses without wearing a mask.
Please be assured that everyone who may have had a possible exposure to this individual has been contacted by SJC Public Health and they are taking proper precautions.
Again, these emergency calls happened while we were essentially closed down. We can only imagine what it might be like when we are open, especially if we have some of our own citizens/businesses not taking proper precautions.
Like many of you, I really want our town to reopen. We need to reopen. Tourism is our bread and butter. But, we also know many other states in our region have had little, if any, strict stay at home or social distancing orders. Today some of those states are having the highest spread rates in the country. This complicates our situation.
We want and need the visitors and we need to keep our community safe. Genuinely good folks doing their best to stay safe who do not have the virus cannot be identified from folks who do not practice these guidelines and/or might be carriers.
Visitors from both categories will come and when they do, we must err on the side of caution to minimize the effects any contagious visitors can have on our community.
There are two types of surges our community can experience this summer: If we manage this threat well, we can have a relatively good economic surge. If we don’t manage it well, we risk a COVID-19 surge.
It is up to us, as a community, together, to do the right things and do our best to make it an economic surge by following Colorado CDPHE and SJC Public Health guidelines to the best of our ability.
We can have a good summer season. We can work together to be safe for our community and our visitors. We must!
I want to thank all of you for keeping our beautiful community safe. Let’s keep it going. Keeping us safe keeps us open.
Kimmet Holland is director of the Silverton San Juan Ambulance Service.
