As our nation and individual states consider how and when to reopen, you may have questions about how to remain safe. Each community is different, so it’s important to look to your local leaders for guidance on when different businesses and services will be available near you.
Here are the current recommendations on how we should act to continue limiting the spread of COVID-19 and keep ourselves and others safe.
Should I Continue Social Distancing?
Yes, social distancing — staying home as much as possible and staying 6 feet away from others when you are in a shared space — will continue to be important as the country reopens. Some states are also still prohibiting large gatherings.
Do I Have to Wear a Mask Everywhere?
The CDC recommends wearing cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain (like grocery stores and pharmacies), especially in areas of significant community-based transmission. The cloth face coverings recommended are not surgical masks or N-95 respirators. Those are critical supplies that must continue to be reserved for health care workers and other medical first responders.
Should I Still Worry About Washing My Hands?
Frequent and effective hand-washing is essential to avoid contracting coronavirus. Wash your hands (for at least 20 seconds) or use alcohol-based (at least 60% alcohol) hand sanitizer when soap and water are not available. Avoid touching your face, especially when out in public.
Is it Safe to Go to the Doctor?
It's important to stay up to date with your medical care, and our facilities are employing new safety measures to protect you and our caregivers including when you visit us. They include universal mask use, temperature screening, social distancing, visitor restrictions and keeping our COVID-19 symptomatic patients separated from other patients. Nothing is more important to us than you.
Here are details on what we're doing to keep you safe when you visit your provider.
Temperature Screening
Have peace of mind knowing that your visit won’t put you or other patients at risk of infection because our strictly enforced policy of temperature checks in all our facilities.
Universal Mask Use
You can feel safe thanks to our universal mask use policy. As an additional precaution, face masks are required for every person in our facilities.
Social Distancing
Feel confident and assured that we are enforcing social distancing, including separate seating and floor markings to keep everyone six feet apart while in our care.
Separate Waiting and Treatment Areas
Take comfort knowing your safety won’t be compromised. COVID-19-positive and COVID-19-symptomatic patients are safely and carefully quarantined away from both patients and visitors.
Visitor Limitation
Every precaution is being taken to keep you safe. That includes limiting the number of visitors to our facilities at this time.
Can I Go to the Park?
State and local authorities will decide whether parks and other recreational facilities will open. Check with the park in advance to be sure you know which areas or services are open, such as bathroom facilities and concessions, and bring what you need with you.
If there is a park open near you, practice social distancing while you are there. Do not use playgrounds, water playgrounds or water parks.
What Can I Do to Reduce My Risk in Public?
Besides wearing a face covering, the CDC recommends limiting the things you touch or come in contact with outside your home and considering wiping public surfaces before and after you touch them.
Businesses are continuing to find ways to encourage social distancing such as limiting the number of seats in waiting areas and requiring 6 feet of distance in queue lines. The CDC suggests cautionary measures like reducing the use of porous materials used for seating, leaving some doors open to reduce touching by multiple people, opening windows to improve ventilation or removing objects in common areas.
Stay Up-to-Date on COVID-19 Recommendations
It’s important to continue to follow federal, state, tribal, territorial and local guidance for reopening America. Staying home when you are sick is still of the utmost importance. Together, we can continue to limit the spread of COVID-19 and slowly begin to resume daily activities.
As always, we’re here to keep you safe and informed. To stay up-to-date on coronavirus news and find answers to frequently asked questions, visit the AdventHealth Coronavirus Resource Hub.
