County Health: COVID Update & How to Vote Safely!

30 Oct County Health: COVID Update & How to Vote Safely!

For up-to-date coronavirus information visit here.

For more information about voting in San Miguel County, please visit here.

For more information about BallotTrax, please visit here.

SMC COVID-19 UPDATE:

Public Health has confirmed six new positive cases of COVID-19 from test results received the 28th through the 30th of October. One 49-year-old female, 17-year-old female and a 14-year-old female are all residents exposed in a social setting and are from the same household. The household is symptomatic and in isolation. One 15-year-old female is asymptomatic from social exposure and in isolation. One 43-year-old female resident and one 49-year-old male nonresident are symptomatic through community spread and in isolation. In San Miguel County there have been 105 total COVID cases to date with eight active cases.

At this time, most close contacts related to the school-aged cases have been contacted by the school or Public Health. If you did not receive a call and believe you or your child might have been in close contact with one of these positive cases, please call Public Health directly at (970) 728-4289 or email a publichealth@sanmiguelcountyco.gov. If you’re interested in learning more about the County’s current COVID-19 metrics, please visit the County COVID-19 dashboard.

SMC COVID & ELECTION:

With Election Day approaching next Tuesday, it is now too late to mail in your ballot and voting in person presents some added challenges to the long lines this year. The good news? You already know how to keep yourself safe with the 5 Commitments.

The safest option for voting at this point is to bring your ballot to a drop box location. In Telluride, this is in the Miramonte Building at 333 W Colorado Avenue in the alcove adjacent to Mangala Yoga under the stairs up to the County offices. In Norwood, the ballot drop box is in the Glockson Building, San Miguel County’s Finance Office, at 1120 Summit Street. In Placerville is a third at the Placerville School House at 400 Front Street.

If you would rather hand your ballot to a volunteer or employee, you can drop your ballot off at the San Miguel County Courthouse or any of the Voter Service and Polling Centers at the Miramonte Building or Norwood Town Hall during business hours.

If you must vote in person, remember the Five Commitments of Containment as you head to the polls on Tuesday.

Face coverings are required at all polling locations and physical distancing will be enforced by staff and volunteers on site. Additionally, voting equipment will be cleaned after each use.

Be sure to wear your mask throughout the duration of your time in line and inside your local polling center. Bring some supplies with you like tissues, a water bottle, a black ink pen and a sample ballot or your blue book.

While in line, pay attention to the space between you and the people in line in front and behind you. Maintain six feet, about two arms’ lengths, of physical distance between yourself and others. If present, let the volunteers guide you.

Washing your hands frequently may prove difficult. Consider carrying hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol. Sanitize before entering the polling location, after handling surfaces that many others may have touched such as door handles, before handling polling equipment and after leaving your place of voting.

Should you find you have misplaced or damaged your ballot, replacement ballots are only available in person at the Voter Service and Polling Centers at this time. Please call (970) 728-3945 or email elections@sanmiguelcountyco.gov to arrange an appointment.

If you’re sick, give your sealed, completed ballot to a trusted family member or friend, utilize the ballot drop boxes and get tested. Remember, if you tested positive for COVID-19, you should not be around others until 10 days after symptoms first appeared, you have gone 24 hours with no fever without the use of fever-reducing medications and other symptoms of COVID-19 are improving.

San Miguel County will continue posting caseload updates twice a week. The next update will be published on Tuesday, November 3.

Five Commitments of Containment:

Wear a mask
Maintain six feet of physical distance
Minimize group size
Wash hands frequently
Stay home when sick and get tested