Crawford County Recommends Limiting Food Establishments To Carry Out, Delivery

On March 19, the Crawford County Health Department in cooperation with the Crawford County Commission and Crawford County EMD, made the decision to issue the following strongly recommended practices:

 We strongly recommend the restriction of food establishments in Crawford County to curbside service only, such as delivery, carry out, and drive-thru.

 The Crawford County Health Department at the recommendation of the Bureau of Environmental Health Services also strongly recommends that lodging establishments limit the number of people congregating in areas such as pools, meeting rooms, and common areas within the lodging facility. 

 The Crawford County Health Department also strongly recommends canceling or postponing any and all events with 10 or more people through April 30, 2020.

We encourage our food establishments to continue to offer food and beverage service to the public using delivery service, window service, walk-up service, drive-thru service, or drive-up service, so long as every such person involved implements appropriate precautions to decrease the potential transmission of COVID-19, including social distancing techniques and a separation of 6 feet can be adequately maintained.

We want everyone to understand that this is not the result of any confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Crawford County.

COVID-19 is a novel (new) virus that our population does not have immunity to. There is no vaccine to prevent our residents from becoming infected. Because of this, our primary means of preventing the spread of the virus will be through community mitigation strategies and non-pharmaceutical interventions. These include basic infection control principles (which we should always practice) like handwashing, social distancing, and respiratory hygiene. These measures also include limiting non-essential/social gatherings and events as well as travel.

We understand these measures have social and economic impacts on individuals and communities. However, we know that limiting public gatherings will disrupt the spread of the illness and that is in the best interest of the county.

We are in daily contact with neighboring counties, state agencies, and the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services to monitor the progression of this novel Coronavirus in hopes of limiting community transmission and protecting our county’s residents. This recommendation will be reassessed every two weeks to ensure restrictions are still necessary to protect our community.