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Alpine County Health Department, 75-B Diamond Valley Rd., Markleeville, CA 96120 Alpine County Board of Supervisors, Phone: (530) 694-2281 District 1: January Riddle, District 2: Ron Hames, District 3: Irvin Jim, District 4: Terry Woodrow, District 5: David Griffith March 15, 2021 Our Choices It was April of 1975, before some of you were born! My pregnant wife and I had just been evacuated under fire from Da Nang, South Vietnam where we had been working at a children’s hospital in a refugee camp for the previous 2 years. Her Christmas present to me that year had been a jar of my favorite raspberry jam and an orange purchased on the black market! Back in the states, she vividly remembers one of her first trips to the grocery store. She was shopping for beans, and upon seeing umpteen brands and types to choose from, she went into a typical Vietnamese squat (vietnamese squat - Google Search) on the floor and dissolved in tears, overwhelmed by all the choices. We live in a society that presents us with lots of choices: Ford - Chevy - Dodge, Starbucks – Peets - Dutch Bros, Raley’s - Smiths – Safeway – Grocery Outlet – Trader Joe’s - Costco, Rite-Aid - Walgreens - CVS - Walmart, Lowe’s - Home Depot – Ace, Dodgers – Giants – Angels, A’s, etc. We are currently fighting a war against the coronavirus, COVID-19. Our enemy the virus has made its choice – to live or to die! To live, it must find new ways to keep spreading and infecting new victims. The way it does that is through the haphazard process of reproducing itself. New variants are the result. See: About Variants of the Virus that Causes COVID-19 I CDC Now it is our turn to make choices – to live or to die, as individuals, as families, and as communities. We are currently at a tipping point. New cases, hospitalizations and deaths have decreased dramatically, but are still at high and unacceptable levels. If we allow the virus with its new variants to creep back in our midst again, we will face a similar scenario to what is now occurring in Italy and other countries. Our choices: - To mask or not to mask - To gather or not to gather - To get vaccinated or not to get vaccinated Public Health Brief Richard O. Johnson, M.D., MPH Nichole Williamson Public Health Officer HHS Director Office: [PHONE REDACTED], Ext 249 Office: [PHONE REDACTED] e-mail: [EMAIL REDACTED] 24/7/365 Emergency Contact Number Dispatch: [PHONE REDACTED], Ext 330 Warm Line: [PHONE REDACTED] ---PAGE BREAK--- Alpine County Health Department, 75-B Diamond Valley Rd., Markleeville, CA 96120 Alpine County Board of Supervisors, Phone: (530) 694-2281 District 1: January Riddle, District 2: Ron Hames, District 3: Irvin Jim, District 4: Terry Woodrow, District 5: David Griffith The goal – to return to normal, or at least a new normal. How do we get there? By making the right choices – mask, limit gatherings, and getting vaccinated. Choices – critical to the well-being of you, your family, and our communities. Improve how your mask protects you: Improve How Your Mask Protects You I CDC What to do after you are vaccinated: When You’ve Been Fully Vaccinated I CDC What you need to know about travel: Travel During COVID-19 I CDC What is open in Alpine County: Blueprint for a Safer Economy - Coronavirus COVID-19 Response (ca.gov) The latest vaccine eligibility information for Alpine County: COVID-19 I Alpine County, CA - Official Website To be interviewed for vaccine eligibility in Alpine County: Warm Line: [PHONE REDACTED]