The Cole County Health Department is recommending people reconsider traveling to an area of high risk for contracting the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
Health Department Director Kristi Campbell said Thursday that 77 percent of the positive COVID-19 cases in Cole County can be traced back to travel and/or contact with a person with a known case.
"If you must travel, take precautionary measures to reduce the risk such as washing hands or using hand sanitizer," Campbell said. "Adhere to all social-distancing requirements and do not be within 6 feet of others for more than 15 minutes. Wear a face covering when close contact cannot be avoided."
Upon return from travel, Campbell said, the Health Department recommends staying home or maintaining social distance for 14 days and/or wearing a face covering when around others outside of one's household.
"It would be impossible for us to enforce a quarantine when people got back from their travels," Campbell said. "We just ask that they take these precautions while they're traveling and when they come back home."
The latest information from the Centers for Disease Control state cloth face coverings offer some degree of protection against large infectious droplets, such as mucus or saliva, when speaking, sneezing or coughing.
"The CDC says the face coverings may protect you from others and others from you," Campbell said. "Cloth face coverings should be washed after each use. It is also important to always wash your hands after each use of the covering and properly take them off and put them on."
Campbell said the Health Department is still doing contact tracing on every positive case it is notified of in Cole County.
Contact tracing is a labor-intensive tool used by public health departments to prevent spread of infectious diseases like the coronavirus. It requires workers to interview people who test positive, track down people they might have had contact with and ask them to self-quarantine.
"Some of the bigger cities are not able to do that, but we are still doing it," Campbell said.
As of Thursday, Cole County has reported 173 total cases of COVID-19, with 53 active; 118 patients in the county have recovered, and two have died.