Pitkin County’s gradual reopening is underway. Hotels and restaurants have plans to field guests at partial capacity, using guidance from county public health officials to help suppress the spread of COVID-19. Those plans rely heavily on personal responsibility, according to Jordana Sabella, manager of planning, prevention and partnerships for Pitkin County Public Health.
“The guidance that we have put in place is really solid in theory,” she said. “And what is going to make them successful is how we practice.”
Sabella said public health plans depend on residents and visitors alike maintaining distance in public places, washing hands and getting tested if they have symptoms.
"The guidance that we have put in place is really solid in theory, and what is going to make them successful is how we practice."
“We’ve been really shifting to more of a message around personal responsibility,” she said. “For us to be able to commit to things that are protective to our health and our community’s health is the job of everyone out there.”
Pitkin County and Aspen Valley Hospital will monitor a number of metrics that could indicate increased spread of the virus in the community. Sabella said public health guidance could be modified in response.
“If any of those criteria change drastically,” she said, “everything has the ability to be changed.”
