CHARBONNEAU COUNTRY CLUB EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS COMMITTEE
NEIGHBOR CARE BULLETIN
07/07/2020
What is contact tracing and why does it matter?
Contact tracing means calling people who may have been exposed to someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 to provide guidance and support. It’s a key tool for preventing the spread of the COVID-19 virus. In Oregon, local public health authorities use contact tracing to prevent the spread of many types of diseases, like measles.
OHA has developed a webpage with fact sheets and other downloadable resources about contact tracing that will help you know what to expect if you or someone in your household gets a call, click on this link to access the website:
https://govstatus.egov.com/OR-OHA-Contact-Collaborative
What happens on a contact tracing call?
With COVID-19 cases increasing in Oregon over the past several weeks, answering the call from a contact tracer is an important way we can work together to help stop the spread of the virus. Contact tracers reach out to anyone who may have been exposed to COVID-19 to provide information and support. If you don’t answer calls from phone numbers you don’t recognize, don’t worry, contact tracers will leave a message asking you to call them back.
If you have been exposed to the virus, you will be asked to quarantine for 14 days after you were near someone with COVID-19, even if you don’t feel sick. This is because you can spread the virus, even if you don’t have symptoms.
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BE BRIGHT!
When walking, wear BRIGHT clothes, be BRIGHT mentally!
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reminds us “because walking is such a routine part of everyday life, many people do not consider the safety aspects of walking. For instance, most injuries to walkers happen when a vehicle hits them because the driver could not see the walker or the walker and driver were not paying close enough attention.”
See and Be Seen!! It is a good idea when walking, especially at dawn, dusk, and other low-light conditions, (such as our shaded Charbonneau streets) to wear light colors or bright clothing so that you can be easily seen. Fluorescent colors such as blaze orange, hot pink, and day-glow green are ideal in daytime. When walking at night, use a flashlight to make yourself more visible to drivers and to help light your path. It’s also a good idea to wear reflective or retroreflective materials, which give off light when headlights shine on them and can be seen by drivers three times farther than white.
The NHTSA has an excellent website with information geared to senior walkers, click on the link for more important safety tips:
https://www.nhtsa.gov/pedestrian-safety/stepping-out-older-adult-be-healthy-walk-safely
Thank you for this information, which the CCC also posted. I’m surprised that the NHTSA Pedestrian Safety tips don’t say anything about importance of walking AGAINST the traffic when you’re walking in the street. It not only allows the walker to see what’s coming, but also makes the flow of walkers easier, because you’re not having to move into the middle of the street to go around walkers who are walking with the traffic direction. Charbonneau is a lovely place to walk, and we’re fortunate there’s not a lot of heavy traffic, but this seems like a ‘no brainer’ to me when walking on any road, anywhere, and at any time. Nikki Dilbeck
Hi Nikki, thank you for your comment. I wondered about that too, but your comment is a good reminder for all of us that walk to go against the traffic. Thanks for taking the time to respond.