Celebrating Thanksgiving in SLO County? Here are some COVID safety tips
Despite the availability of COVID-19 vaccines and booster shots, the coronavirus pandemic is far from over in San Luis Obispo County.
Public health officials have tips for ways to gather safely during Thanksgiving and the rest of the holiday season while minimizing the risk of COVID-19 transmission.
“People can come together, they just need to do so in a smart way,” said Penny Borenstein, San Luis Obispo County Public Health Department officer. “What’s different this year is that we’re dealing with a virus that is so much more readily spreadable.”
Unlike last Thanksgiving, COVID-19 vaccines and booster shots are available for free this year to everyone who is eligible, Borenstein said.
Cororonvirus vaccine eligibility recently expanded to children ages 5 to 11, meaning that all kids 17 and under can be vaccinated against the virus.
“I think it is important that children absolutely get vaccinated for this disease,” Borenstein said. “As as is true for everyone else.”
The best way to stay safe this holiday season is for all eligible adults and children to get the COVID-19 vaccine, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) said, noting that the vaccines are free and widely available to the public.
“The risk of a very severe side effect from the vaccine is .07%,” Borenstein said. “The data is there. The information is very clear. ... I can say very confidently that there is no impact from the vaccine that outweighs the potential impacts from the disease.”
According to the CDPH, face masks can come off at holiday gatherings if everyone is fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
“We definitely can relax if everybody in the gathering is vaccinated,” Borenstein said.
Anyone who is sick, even with mild symptoms such as a sore throat and the sniffles, should stay home, isolate from others and get tested for COVID-19, according to the state and county public health departments.
How to host Thanksgiving dinner safely
The San Luis Obispo County Public Health Department recommended that hosts verify the vaccine status of all guests gathering on Thanksgiving.
Borenstein said unvaccinated people should get a COVID-19 rapid test one to three days before Thanksgiving. The same goes for anyone planning to travel for Turkey Day, she said.
The CDPH recommends hosting holiday gatherings outdoors if the vaccine status of guests is unknown, or guest are unvaccinated.
“We live in lovely California. If you can have your gatherings outdoors, that’s still better,” Borenstein said.
Indoor gatherings should be limited, state and local public health officials say.
Families that are gathering indoors should prop windows open to allow plenty of ventilation, run HVAC systems and install high-quality air filters, according to state and county public health departments.
“I would encourage (people) to think twice about large gatherings,” Borenstein said.
Good hygiene such as hand washing is also important, Borenstein said.
The state Public Health Department recommends wearing masks around medically vulnerable and unvaccinated people, as well as other high-risk individuals.
“The best masks for preventing COVID-19 include medical grade masks like N96, KN95 and KF94 and surgical masks,” Borenstein said in a news release. “If you are wearing a cloth mask, you will get the best protection from one that has at least three layers. No matter what mask you wear, check the fit to make certain there are no gaps above the nose or on the sides.”
When will SLO County end indoor mask mandate?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention track the spread of COVID-19 through communities in part by calculating the rate of new coronavirus cases per 100,000 people in a seven-day period, according to the CDC.
Communities that have new case rates that fall between 50 to 99.99 fall into the orange, or substantial tier, according to the CDC.
San Luis Obispo County had a new case rate of 67.82 as of Tuesday, according to CDC data.
Once a county reaches the yellow, or moderate, tier of community spread — meaning that it has 10 to 49.99 new cases per 100,000 people in a seven-day period — the CDC recommends that unvaccinated people wear masks indoors.
But mask use is recommended for everyone, regardless of their vaccination status, in counties that fall into the orange tier.
According to Borenstein, San Luis Obispo County’s indoor mask mandate will remain in effect until the county can drive down its levels of community spread of the novel coronavirus.
“Until we can find a way to really drive down the level of community transmission, we are all at risk,” Borenstein said, especially as temperatures begin to drop, pushing more people to gather indoors.
It is unclear what the winter months will bring in terms of rates of community spread of COVID-19 in San Luis Obispo County, Borenstein said.
“We think that we will see a surge but we hope it will be nothing of the sort that we saw during the brutal winter of last year,” she said.
Public health department expands COVID-19 testing options
Free COVID-19 testing is available at local public health clinics in Grover Beach, Morro Bay, Paso Robles and San Luis Obispo. Those clinics are closed on Thursday for Thanksgiving.
Meanwhile, the county Public Health Department is offering free COVID-19 rapid testing in advance of the holiday.
Those free tests are available to the first 250 people ages 2 and up who visit the county’s pop-up clinics in Atascadero and Grover Beach on Wednesday.
The tests are available 8 to 11 a.m. at Atascadero Lake Park and 1 to 4 p.m. at 16th Street Park in Grover Beach, while supplies last.
The San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport announced Tuesday that it has reopened its onsite regional coronavirus testing facility.
Travelers can choose between a variety of tests, including rapid tests and molecular polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests.
The airport’s drive-through facility is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and appointments can be scheduled at www.sloairport.com/testing.
Coronavirus rapid tests are also available at various urgent care clinics and pharmacies throughout the county.
Where to get a COVID-19 test and schedule a vaccine appointment
Free coronavirus testing is available at clinics in Grover Beach, Morro Bay, Paso Robles and San Luis Obispo. To make an appointment, visit emergencySLO.org/testing or call 888-634-1123 to register by phone.
To make an appointment for a COVID-19 vaccine or booster, visit MyTurn.ca.gov or call 833-422-4255. The county Public Health Department is also administering vaccines and boosters on a walk-in basis at clinics in San Luis Obispo, Paso Robles and Grover Beach. To find shots at pharmacies near you, visit Vaccines.gov.
The clinics are open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, and closed noon to 1 p.m. for lunch. They’re also open Saturdays for vaccines only from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The clinics are closed Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday.
The San Luis Obispo clinic is located at 2191 Johnson Ave., the Grover Beach clinic is located at 286 South 16th St. and the Paso Robles clinic is located at 800 Pine St.
For more information, visit RecoverSLO.org/en/when-and-where-can-you-get-vaccinated.aspx.
This story was originally published November 24, 2021 at 8:00 AM.
