Routt County Travel Recommendations

Routt County aims to protect residents, visitors, and businesses by reducing the transmission of COVID19. One of the risks for community transmission is traveling. Whether you are visiting Routt County, or you are a resident embarking on a trip out of town, please consider these recommendations as way to keep you, your family, your workplace and our community safe.

These recommendations are built on these Five Pillars:

  1. Practice the Commitments to Containment at home and while traveling – even when they are not required by local regulations

  2. Avoid COVID-19 hotspots whenever possible

  3. Assess the risk of activities you participate in while traveling

  4. Limit interactions for two weeks after travel to/from hotspots

  5. Limit interactions before you travel

I. PILLAR ONE: PRACTICE THE COMMITMENTS TO CONTAINMENT

  1. Maintain social distancing of 6 feet or more

  2. Wash hands often

  3. Cover your face in public

  4. Stay at home if at risk or when sick

  5. Seek testing immediately if you develop symptoms

  6. Don’t Wait. Vaccinate.

  7. Follow the CDC guidelines for personal gatherings.

II. PILLAR TWO: CHECK COVID-19 HOTSPOTS BEFORE YOU TRAVEL

Check The New York Times Risk Assessment to monitor states and counties COVID-19 positivity rate. A hotspot would be a state that has positive tests in excess of 10%, or a number of positive cases exceeding 10 per 100,000 residents.

III. PILLAR THREE: ASSESS WHAT TYPE OF ACTIVITIES YOU PARTICIPATE IN WHILE TRAVELING

If you answer yes to the following questions, you may be at high risk of bringing the COVID-19 virus to Routt County:

  • Did you participate in a gathering event, such as a wedding?

  • Did you mingle with people outside of your usual circle of close contacts?

  • Did you and others interact without wearing face masks?

  • Did you travel on an airplane?

  • Did you travel to a foreign country?

  • Did you travel to a state or other location in the United States considered to have high community spread of COVID, a “hotspot?”

o Low risk example: Took your family camping somewhere in Colorado.

o High risk example: Flew to attend a large wedding. No one wore masks.

IV. PILLAR FOUR: LIMIT INTERACTIONS FOR TWO WEEKS AFTER TRAVEL TO/FROM HOTSPOTS

Anyone who has traveled out of Routt County, or to Routt County, from a COVID-19 hotspot should consider the following options. Every traveler is advised to engage in the most restrictive limitation on interactions that is practicable for their situation. Options for limiting interactions include:

A. Restrict activities to reduce the spread of COVID-19. There are measures that can mitigate the risk of spreading COVID-19, whether you are a visitor or a resident. Consider doing as many of the following options for 14 days, especially if you are coming from a hot spot location.

  • Always Practice the Commitments to Containment

  • Limit trips to other public places for essential activities only

  • Limit contact with people outside your family group

  • Do not use public transportation

  • Do not prepare food for others outside your household

  • Do not share food with others outside your household

  • Do not share items like towels or utensils

  • Disinfect surfaces frequently

  • Keep windows open

  • If possible, stay in a separate bedroom and use a separate bathroom

  • Move into a separate workspace with reduced contact with co-workers

  • Work from home

  • Avoid local businesses and other public places

  • Do not interact with customers

  • Spread out work shifts to have less interaction with others

B. Self-quarantine for 14 days and monitor for the development of COVID- 19 symptoms. A full self-quarantine is the safest way to avoid inadvertent transmission but is not always possible. You may return to work and community involvement after 14 days without symptoms. If you are fully vaccinated, there is no need for quarantine.

C. Get tested if you have symptoms. People with these symptoms may have COVID-19: fever or chills, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, fatigue, muscle or body aches, headache, new loss of taste or smell, sore throat, congestion or runny nose, nausea or vomiting, or diarrhea. Due the possibility of a false negative test, and the variable time from exposure to a positive test, a "test out" regime using a negative test to stop quarantine activities for asymptomatic individuals is not recommended by national or state public health agencies.

V. PILLAR FIVE: LIMIT INTERACTIONS BEFORE YOU TRAVEL.

Preventing infections at their source is an important public health concept. While the quarantine concept is usually mentioned in reference to after a person travels, quarantine concepts are also important before a person travels. Reducing your potential exposure to COVID-19 before your travel is important for the people and places you visit on your travel. In the two weeks before you travel consider limiting your social interactions, avoid group gatherings, etc. as outlined above And of course, you should not travel if you are sick or have COVID-19 symptoms.

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