SLV continues making strides against COVID-19

SLV continues making strides against COVID-19

SAN LUIS VALLEY — The community in the San Luis Valley has worked hard to flatten the curve, and the great sacrifices everyone has made are recognized. This affects your livelihoods, can have an impact on mental health and honestly, it is just not fun. SLV Emergency is proud of the valley’s citizens, and thanks them for being San Luis Valley strong.  

The statewide stay at home order will expire on Sunday and transition on April 27th to Safer at Home. At that time, the baby steps to reopen businesses and add the services we’ve all missed during the stay at home order will begin. Look for more guidance and specifics in the coming days. While the stay at home order ends, it’s important that our day-to-day activities are phased in slowly, so we don’t lose the progress achieved during the stay at home order. This means it isn’t business as usual for your gym, salon, restaurant, or favorite boutique and it's important that business owners are aware of the public health orders and guidance within their own county, as they may be different from the state’s order. We will need to make sure any easing of restrictions will not undo all of our progress. Priorities are Colorado’s health and economic recovery. 

You may wonder: If the news is so good….if we have flattened the curve, why can't we just go back to business as usual? Truth is, it's not like flipping an off/on switch. If the course is reversed too rapidly, the virus will come roaring back. More people will get sick, more will die, and hospitals won’t be able to take care of them all. It's more like a dimmer switch. Be prepared for the long haul and slowly turn the dial brighter to get ourselves and our economy back on track safely.

Good health is partly a function of good habits. Over the past six weeks, citizens have been asked to adopt new habits like more frequent handwashing, isolating when sick, and wearing a mask. Like other habits that protect health, those can’t simply stop, or all that progress will be undone. Good habits take dedication, but the rewards are real - good health and the freedom to pursue cherished activities. The habits built during the time of COVID-19 need to be continued however, when restrictions are relaxed. This will allow more freedom while keeping Coloradans safe. 

One of the steps that Colorado is taking to help us move forward is the launching of a new statewide COVID-19 Symptom Tracker similar to the one that we have been using in the San Luis Valley. If you have symptoms, we encourage you to participate in this new survey. You are not required to provide your name and location in order to report your symptoms, but doing so could help your local public health agency contact you if needed. Your data will be shared only with those with authorized access, such as your local public health agency. This will help public health and public safety agencies track COVID-19 symptoms in order to make appropriate public health decisions.  If you have symptoms, you can participate by going to https://covid19.colorado.gov/covid19-symptoms

At this time, the CDPHE symptom tracker does not refer users to testing or allow them to register to receive a test for COVID-19. Local screening is being done through our local nurse triage lines. [Rio Grande Hospital (719) 657-4990; SLV Health (719) 589-2511 ext. 9; Valley-Wide Health Systems (719) 589-3658]

We have no changes today in San Luis Valley case counts. To see current numbers, go to our website at https://www.slvemergency.org/slv-covid-19/.