The 2021 high tourism season almost is upon us, and every sign suggests it will be as busy as 2020. Of course, everyone is wrestling with the typical concerns – especially lining up sufficient staff. 

But 2021 is going to be a replay of 2020 in another way: Every Cook County business needs to take precautions so that staff and customers are made as safe as possible from the COVID-19 virus.  Because it is still around, still able to inflect people and to make them deathly ill. Indeed, the number of positive tests for the virus has ticked up at an alarming rate over the past two weeks, further amplifying the need to take care.

For businesses, that means pulling out those COVID-19 preparedness plans on which you spent so much time last year. Please review your plan and make prudent adjustments based on what  you know and we have all learned about the virus and how it behaves. In some ways, the situation is even more fraught than last year because more of us each day are receiving the vaccine we need to protect us from the disease.

The problem is that we cannot know who is vaccinated and who is not, who is carrying the virus and who is not. Nor is there conclusive evidence yet that once vaccinated, we cannot pass on the virus to others.

That continued uncertainty means we need to continue with the regimen that was drummed into us last year: Wear masks, stay distant from others, use hand sanitizer. 

If you have questions about what sort of updates your business preparedness plan might need, Andrea Orest of Cook County Public Health and Sawtooth Mountain Clinic is available and willing to visit your business, evaluate your plan and practices, and suggest improvements that might help keep everyone safe. You can reach Andrea with questions or to arrange an evaluation of your business’ COVID practices at this email address: [email protected].