Over the Labor Day weekend, the Hamilton County Health Department urges residents to avoid planning or attending large gatherings. Events should be limited to 10 people, preferably household contacts only.
Health Department data show that many of the new cases of COVID-19 in Hamilton County are directly related to exposures at large gatherings. Frequently, people who do not know they have the virus attend events during their infectious period. Carriers are infectious up to two days prior to showing symptoms. The people they infect at these events then continue the spread by infecting their household.
“The only way to totally eliminate any risk would be to not attend,” said Health Department Administrator Becky Barnes, “However if you do decide to attend such an event, we recommend the basic advice for all public activities, which would be to wear a facial covering or mask, maintain a minimum of six feet distance from others, and be sure to regularly wash or sanitize your hands after touching any surfaces.”
According to the CDC, the more people an individual interacts with at a gathering, and the longer that interaction lasts, the higher the potential risk of becoming infected with and spreading COVID-19. Read more about the CDC’s Considerations for Events and Gatherings here.
The CDC offers this risk assessment:
- Lowest risk: Virtual-only activities, events, and gatherings.
- More risk: Smaller outdoor and in-person gatherings in which individuals from different households remain spaced at least 6 feet apart, wear masks, do not share objects, and come from the same local area (e.g., community, town, city, or county).
- Higher risk: Medium-sized in-person gatherings that are adapted to allow individuals to remain spaced at least 6 feet apart and with attendees coming from outside the local area.
- Highest risk: Large in-person gatherings where it is difficult for individuals to remain spaced at least 6 feet apart and attendees travel from outside the local area.
Anyone could be an asymptomatic carrier of the virus at any given point. The primary reason behind wearing a mask is to prevent spreading it to others when you do not know that you are infected.
If you are sick with any COVID-19 symptoms, stay home, do not go out.
The Health Department free COVID-19 testing site at the Alstom Plant will be closed Labor Day, Monday, September 7. Otherwise, the testing site is open seven days a week, 7AM-11:30AM.
For more information about COVID-19 and free Health Department testing, call the hotline at (423) 209-8383, Monday-Friday 8AM-4PM and Saturday 10AM-3PM. The COVID-19 hotline is closed Monday, September 7 in observance of Labor Day. The Tennessee Department of Health COVID-19 hotline may be reached daily by calling 877-857-2945 or 833-556-2476.
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