Union Fire Department and EMS COVID-19 Update

Community, Press Release, UCFD
covid-19 update
BLAIRSVILLE, Ga – The following is the COVID-19 update and advice from the Union County Fire Chief and EMS Director David Dyer on August 5, 2020.
“COVID-19 is a major topic that everyone is talking about and, at the same time, everyone is tired of hearing. It is a subject that we, at the Emergency Management Agency and Fire Department deal with on almost an hourly basis.
We deal with the ever-changing guidance from the various organizations such as the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH). We are constantly looking at information that is provided to us in order to get an idea of the situation. We are responding to calls and seeing, firsthand, how the virus is affecting people and patients.
Most would agree that the virus has, and is continuing, to spread through our community. People in our area have either had the virus; know someone who has; or has heard of someone who has. We have seen the number of confirmed cases rise significantly in the last couple of weeks. For example, roughly four weeks ago, the number of confirmed cases for Union County was 89 with three deaths. We have more than doubled those numbers.
The numbers have gone up and that is why we should follow the guidelines and procedures now, more than ever, to flatten the curve and slow the spread. That is what the guidelines are designed to do, to slow the spread. They were never designed to stop the virus. We will continue to see more cases but when we see a spike as we are seeing now, we should put more effort into following the guidelines to slow that spread.

Latest COVID-19 update map from Google.

On July 17th, Governor Brian Kemp and Georgia Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Kathleen Toomey asked Georgians to do four things “for the next four weeks” to continue to flatten the curve and slow the spread.
These four things are 1) wear a mask when out in public or when you cannot keep distance inside, 2) practice physical distancing – six feet from those you don’t live with, 3) wash your hands for 20 seconds several times throughout the day with soap and warm water, and 4) follow the Executive Order and heed the guidance provided by public health officials.
The best course of action is to continue to remain vigilant and follow these guidelines to help slow the spread and protect our most vulnerable population. Everyone should take responsibility for their health as well as the health of people that they come in contact with.”

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