(Audubon) Audubon County Public Health Administrator and Public Information Officer Bob Nelson said as of today (April 8) there no current cases of COVID-19 in Audubon County. The one positive case has recovered and has been released from self-isolation.
Nelson said the CDC is now recommending wearing cloth face coverings in public settings especially in areas where social distancing is difficult to maintain such as in a grocery store or department store.
“The mask does not need to be professional grade to offer benefits. In fact, officials say it probably shouldn’t be. The CDC recommends constructing your own cloth mask or obtain one constructed by someone else to help ensure that health care providers can obtain medical grade, surgical and N95 masks amid a widespread shortage of supplies. If you want to construct your own mask, there are many functional designs available. Please see the CDC website at cdc.gov/coronavirus for its designs and proper cloth mask usage,” explained Nelson.
As a reminder, to help prevent spreading or contracting COVID-19 continue to clean your hands frequently with soap and water or hand sanitizer; avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth practice social distancing, avoid close contact, stay at least 6 feet away from others; and stay home as much as possible.
Nelson also shared updates from the Audubon County Sheriff’s Office, Audubon Fire and Rescue and Audubon County Emergency Management.
The Audubon County Sheriff’s Office has taken additional steps to keep the community safe and healthy. They will be wearing washable masks when going into businesses, dealing with larger groups and going into homes to help slow the spread of the COVID 19 virus.
Audubon Fire and Rescue would like the public to know if they are on the scene, whether fire or medical, do not approach them directly. If you have information to relay to the fire department immediately regarding the incident or patient, attempt to get their attention from a safe distance without approaching. If this information is not time sensitive but you feel the personnel need to know, you can call the dispatch center and leave your name and number for them to return your call. If you can avoid being in the area of an event, that is highly recommended. And, if there is a road closed either by a barricade or by personnel, do not attempt to go around them.
The Audubon County Emergency Management Office reminds businesses to look at the small business loan opportunities. The U.S. Small Business Administration has issued a disaster declaration for the state of Iowa. The declaration allows pandemic impacted small businesses to apply for low interest support loans. Applications can be made by visiting disasterloan.sba.gov. Emergency Management also said the Emergency Operations Center is at a level 3 which means it is fully activated. Representatives of the County, Audubon County Memorial Hospital and first responding agencies are staffing the operations center.
