Craig Public Health was asked to give feedback about July 4th activities

Craig Public Health was recently asked to sit in on one of the community’s 4th of July Planning Committee meetings to give feedback. We very much appreciate that we were asked to attend. Our participation though  was in no way a rubber stamp of approval for activities planned. Craig Public Health has consistently said that we do think that some of the usual 4th of July activities can be done safely, such as fireworks and a parade. Social distancing can be achieved at both a fireworks display and at a parade. Social distancing and face coverings should be promoted by community leaders before and during the event. Activities such as field day activities are concerning since social distancing will be difficult to achieve. With all of this said, Craig Public Health is unable to stop communities from having large gatherings. The decision to have a large gathering or not falls on the community. The state has guidelines on having large gatheringshttps://covid19.alaska.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/06012020-Large-Gatherings-and-Community-Events.pdf  The CDC has guidelines on having a large gatheringshttps://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/large-events/mass-gatherings-ready-for-covid-19.html Additionally, if you decide to have a large gathering, Craig Public Health would appreciate if you kept a list of all attendees and their phone number. If there is a positive case that attended the gathering it will make contact tracing easier.