Dear Families of Eagle County Students: Your children need you now more than ever

Social distancing is hard for all of us, but it’s especially difficult for children and teenagers. 

At this time, it is critical to keep your children and teens home and from gathering in groups. Unfortunately, this means no play-dates, no sleep-overs, and no hanging-out in parks or around town.

COVID-19 infects people of all ages, including children. Because their symptoms are often mild, they can carry and transmit the virus unaware that they are even sick. Consequently, children around the world have contributed to its spread. It’s very easy for children to pick up the virus from a friend or community member and bring it home, infecting entire households. This can easily lead to exposure for at-risk members of the family, and then of our community.

In order to protect your children and families, our at-risk community and our health infrastructure, parents must help enforce social distancing among our county’s children and teens. Keep them home.

If you don’t, the disease will likely spread from family-to-family, leading to a larger number of serious cases and deaths. The timeline for social distancing will increase, and the orders for self-isolation will tighten from public health.

• Do not let your children or teenagers gather in groups.
• Gathering at parks, playgrounds, ball fields is prohibited according to the recent Eagle County Public Order. 
• Stay at home or in your yard. 
• It is ok to go for siblings or families to go on a hike, or a bike ride, so long as they maintain social distancing when they encounter others.
• If a family member becomes ill, special care and social distancing is needed within the home.

For resources on creative ways to tackle the challenge of staying home with kids during this unprecedented public health event, please visit:

https://www.vailhealth.org/patients-visitors/coronavirus-covid-19/social-distancing