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Chaffee County Public Health (CCPH), along with countywide stakeholders, has launched “Chaffee’s Got HEART,” a new campaign designed to serve as a unifying message that the strategies to mitigate COVID-19 are still necessary, especially for keeping schools open to in-person learning and businesses operating at the safest capacity possible.

“We are excited to launch this motto that embodies our five commitments to containment and the dedication that our county has demonstrated in mitigating the spread of COVID-19,” said Chaffee County Public Health Director Andrea Carlstrom. “Since the pandemic started, we have seen amazing compassion, generosity, and support throughout our community. We hope that this display of love for our neighbors, friends, and family will continue.”

The campaign has been in development for several weeks,  framing a message that is both cautious and encouraging.

“We’ll do whatever we can to keep everyone open,” said Carlstrom during Monday’s COVID-19 Leadership Roundtable. “I know it is a bold statement and I guess we will have to ask for forgiveness from the state.” She added that the pandemic has been a severe strain on the state’s public health system and that in the past months since the beginning of the pandemic, lessons have been learned.

“The Governor is encouraging working from home if people can, and we need businesses to comply with the public health orders,” said Carlstrom. “In month nine we are going to hold businesses accountable when they are showing grave disregard for public health orders. The pandemic has demonstrated both what we can do with surge capacity and the limits of surge capacity. This emergency response has become chronic and that’s where building off ‘Chaffee’s Got Heart’ comes from.”

CCPH is encouraging all residents in the “Heart of the Rockies” to reflect on everything that has happened this year and to continue to take HEART. The message of ‘heart” is this:

  • Hang at Home if Sick.
  • Excel at Handwashing.
  • Always Wear a Mask Properly in Public.
  • Respect Social Distancing.
  • Test If You Have Symptoms.

“With the recent increase in local COVID-19 cases and exponential hospitalizations across the state, we are currently in a critical spot in which we need to course-correct. What we do now will make a difference for the holiday season and beyond. We can do this, Chaffee County, but it is going to take all of us,” said Carlstrom.

“On behalf of the Chaffee County Board of Commissioners, all Chaffee County residents have been impacted by COVID-19, either directly by the virus or by the measures that have been implemented to contain it,” said Chaffee County Commissioner Greg Felt.

He added, “As we head into a season that traditionally emphasizes gratitude and compassion, the simple acknowledgment that we have all been through a lot—that the person standing before you may have much more life stress than what is evident—is a good working assumption and aligned with the spirit of the holidays.”

The campaign has a family of visuals featuring a heart that Chaffee residents will begin to see over the coming weeks. No matter the medium, the message is the same; if this county pulls together, we can avoid the worst of the impacts of this pandemic, but it is going to take all of us.

The link to Chaffee Has Heart info on the Chaffee FaceBook page: https://www.colorfulcolorado.com/pledge.

For questions about the campaign, contact Chris Kassar, CCPH community outreach coordinator, at 719-221-1184 or email at ckassar@chaffeecounty.org.