Stay At Home - Protect Your Household

March 31, 2020

The majority our residents and businesses are doing exactly what is in this order to protect their families and neighbors, but we want to clarify expectations within our community.

First and foremost – PROTECT YOUR HOUSEHOLD. Your household consists of the people who live with you regularly, the people who sleep in your dwelling, obtain most meals in your dwelling, and do most of their personal hygiene in your dwelling. Every time you are outside of your household and are around people that you don’t live with, you are exposing yourself and your entire household to everyone you encounter and every surface you touch.

Social distancing does not allow for inside socializing – not at all, not you, not your child’s birthday, not anything at all, no event involving food or alcohol, no getting together even if it’s less than 10 people. Gatherings of any number of people who are not doing essential work activities or essential life activities are NOT allowed indoors at this time.

Social distancing is to keep six (6) feet between all persons

While doing activities that are essential for your household (grocery shopping or medicines,

Providing groceries or medicine to another household who needs delivery or other assistance)

Essential shopping only at this time. Businesses are to allow essential shopping for items necessary for the maintenance of the household such as major appliances crucial to daily living. All other shopping is in violation of the Governor’s Stay-at-Home order. All business should accomplish transactions by phone when at all possible.

Working at your essential job.

The Governor’s Executive Orders 2-2020 and 3-2020 require people to “remain at their place of

residence” but allows for outdoor activity like walking, bicycling, or outdoor recreation as long as everyone “maintains social distancing of at least six feet.” Your entire household can even take a drive together. If you meet someone outside for activity, you must be six (6) feet apart at all times. You are not to gather together outside—even if you maintain social distancing—with family members and close friends who are not members of your household.

It is important to realize that every person you are near can potentially be carrying the virus from

a previous contact of theirs, even if they aren’t showing symptoms yet. We are to avoid other

people’s homes because the virus can live on surfaces.

Do not gather together

Do not touch other surfaces unless absolutely necessary.

You must be six (6) feet from anyone not in your household,

Please just stay in your own home/on your property.

PROTECT YOUR HOUSEHOLD

All people can continue to pick up dinner at any food service offering curbside delivery, go to the grocery store, pharmacy, and hardware stores for supplies or medicine while the Stay-at-home Order is active. We want to encourage everyone to buy normal quantities of toilet paper, eggs, milk, and medicine to help ensure that there is enough for everyone. Limit outings to essential needs only – TO PROTECT YOUR HOUSEHOLD.

Do not bully or harass others. Take care of yourself and your household. Law enforcement and the Health Department will deal with enforcement of the order. If you have concerns, please call the Health Department or provide education found at these links:

Frequently asked questions about COVID-19:

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/faq.html#anchor_1584386949645

How to prevent getting sick:

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/index.html

Cleaning and disinfecting your home:

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/cleaning-disinfection.html

What to do if you are sick:

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/if-you-are-sick/steps-when-sick.html

Any person currently living in Valley County as of 12:01 am March 28th, OR any Essential Services Contractor who has completed the 14 consecutive days of self-quarantine, may also perform the following essential activities:

1. Go to work at any business allowed to remain open as defined by essential critical infrastructure workers by the Department of Homeland Security.

a. If you work out of town and must travel to other counties to perform usual work duties, you must do so in a manner that minimizes time out of Valley County and maintains six (6) feet of separation from other persons except as required to carry out their usual work duties.

b. The one important exception is if you were in direct contact with someone with positive COVID-19 diagnosis, you need to do a full self-quarantine. Public Health follows up on all direct contacts to all presumptive positive cases and you would have been contacted by Valley County Public Health Department.

2. Engage in activities essential to your health and safety, or to the health and safety of your family or household members, partners, or significant others (including, but not limited to, pets). This includes obtaining medical supplies or medication, visiting a health care professional, or obtaining supplies needed to work from home.

3. Obtain necessary services, supplies, or food for yourself and family or household members, or to deliver those services or supplies to others. This includes groceries, pet supplies, household products, and products necessary to maintain the safety, sanitation, and essential operation of residences.

4. Care for a family member or pet in another household.

As defined in the Best Practices Supplement, all businesses that are identified as essential/critical must limit access inside their doors.

1. Restaurants must only allow pickup (curb side) outside of business or by drive through window. Customers will not be allowed inside any restaurant; they must wait outside in their vehicle for their order.

2. Hardware stores and grocery stores must continue to keep customer levels below twenty

(20) people at any given time. These stores must limit one shopper per household.

3. Convenience Stores must limit access to their buildings and maintain 6-foot separation between customers. They also need to limit one person per family/vehicle to enter the store.

4. All other essential/critical businesses must also maintain the 6-foot requirement.

In addition to the Governor’s Stay-At-Home Order, the VC Health Officer Order 2020-02 states:

Persons who newly enter Valley County, resident or non-resident, including snowbirds

Persons who exited Valley County for any length of time for a non-essential work-related purpose, resident or non-resident

New Essential Service Contractors staying for any amount of time

Persons passing through or staying for any amount of time

1. Must abide by the self-quarantine for a period of fourteen (14) days upon arrival.

2. Must maintain six (6) feetof separation from all other people within the County.

3. If a person will be present in Valley County for fewer than 14 days, that person must self- quarantine for the duration of the visit—but they can leave at any time.

4. You may go to work if you are an essential employee, only interacting with other co- workers as needed, but separate from all others after work.

5. You may use hotel lodging, service stations,curbside, drive up, or restaurant delivery, and laundryservices/laundromats, then proceed on your journey without delay. You may not enter any essential service establishments including grocery, drug, or hardware stores during the 14-day quarantine but must utilize curbside service or delivery.

6. A person whodeparts and then returns to Valley County will self-quarantine for another 14- day time period upon returning. This includes leaving the county prior to your essential services work being completed.

7. Duringany period of self-quarantine,the individual subject to the same shall remain indoors to the greatest extent possible and shall limit all interactions with individuals. When interacting with any individuals, such interaction should occur in away thataccommodates at least six (6) feet of distance between the individuals.

VC Health Officer Order #2020-02

Link to Essential Critical Infrastructure Workers During COVID-19 Response: https://www.cisa.gov/identifying-critical-infrastructure-during-covid-19

Terminology

Isolation separates sick people with a contagious disease from people who are not sick.

Quarantine separates and restricts the movement of people who were exposed to a contagious disease to see if they become sick.

Stay-at-Home Order is an order from an authority to restrict movements of population as a mass quarantine strategy for suppressing or mitigating an epidemic or pandemic by ordering residents to stay home except for essential tasks or going to work in essential businesses. In many cases, outdoor activities are allowed.

Shelter-in-Place: Shelter in place means finding a safe location indoors and staying there until you are given an “all clear” or told to evacuate because of an active shooter; tornado; or chemical, radiological, or other hazard.

Resident: a person who lives somewhere permanently or on a long-term basis

Household: persons who currently live together in the same dwelling and sleep, obtain most meals, and do most of their person hygiene at that dwelling.

Investigation: common term used in public health when an infectious disease is tracked by a public health nurse.

Person Under Investigation (PUI): Any person who is under investigation for having the virus that causes COVID-19, or who was under investigation but tested negative for the virus.

Presumptive Positive case of COVID-19: Anyone who has tested positive for the virus, but testing was conducted at the local or state level.

Laboratory-confirmed case of COVID-19: Anyone who has tested positive for the virus at the CDC laboratory.

Community spread means spread of an illness for which the source of infection is unknown