While the April 7 countywide data updates from the Snohomish Health District show a continued upward trend in overall number of cases, there are also signs of leveling off from the steep increases of the last week of March.
Encouragingly, this is accompanied by a continuation of the upward trend (although not as marked as April 6) in the numbers of those who have recovered from the virus.
Overall, the data suggest that Snohomish County is slowly making progress in beating COVID-19.
— By Larry Vogel
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From the Washington State Department of Health
We and the community are safest from COVID-19 when we all stay in our homes, but, eventually, even the best stocked of us need to go to the grocery store. Grocery stores are working hard to keep their employees and customers as safe as possible.
Grocery stores are very diverse and what works for one might not work for another. We’ve seen some grocery stores help us stay six feet apart from each other by providing signage or spacing markers on the floor. Others are monitoring traffic flow and focusing on helping us stay six feet apart when lines begin to form. And some are limiting the total number of people in the store at any one time. Like all of us, grocery store employees should not work when they are sick, wash their hands frequently, use hand sanitizers, and refrain from touching their faces.
Keep yourself and grocery stores as safe as possible
- Limit the number of times you go to a grocery store to once a week or even less frequently.
- Shop with a list and like you mean business. Save the browsing for later! The less time you are in there, the better!
- Shop by yourself, if possible, to help limit the number of people in the aisles. Better yet, can you take a neighbor’s list with you and shop for them while you are at it?
- Shop at less popular times when the stores will be less crowded.
- Consider wearing a cloth face covering to protect others in case you have COVID-19 but haven’t developed any symptoms.
- If you use the self-checkout stands, be sure to stand apart from other customers and from staff who may need to approach your station to help you.
- Wash your hands or use sanitizer after handling money. Money is not likely a primary mode of transmission of coronavirus, but it’s a good idea to disinfect after handling money.
- Don’t touch your face! Avoid using your phone, putting on chapstick, scratching your beard, or doing anything that would bring your hands into contact with your face.
- Use hand sanitizer when you get in the car.
- Wash your hands thoroughly when you get home.
- You can toss packaging and wipe down bottles when you get home, but do not put disinfectants like bleach or cleaning products on your produce or directly onto your food, that is bad for you.
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