LEHI (ABC4 News) – For weeks we’ve been hearing about the importance of social distancing and hand washing. Now a public service announcement from Israel vividly illustrates the reasons why.
The one minute ad starts with a sneeze transferred to a door handle with the virus represented by the color red. A young woman unwittingly picks it up and spreads it to an elevator button and another rider and so on and so on. It travels through an envelope, an ATM and a shopping cart handle until the virus proliferates through an entire city.
RELATED: Here’s how to wash your hands properly
It’s the type of scenario that Utah health officials are trying to prevent with a statewide stay-at-home directive. While many are taking it seriously, others apparently are not.
On Monday in Utah County, ABC4 saw people entering non-essential businesses such as a hair salon and a jewelry store in Lehi plus another barber shop in Highland. In terms of the ad, caught red-handed.
RELATED: Here’s when COVID-19 cases are projected to peak in Utah
A few miles away, numerous golfers teed off at Cedar Hills Golf Club some ignoring social distancing guidelines by riding together in a cart and congregating closely around holes. State Epidemiologist Dr. Angela Dunn warns this type of behavior is not only risky for the individuals themselves but for vulnerable members of the community.
“The point of social distancing is yes, to keep you safe and you healthy,” Dr. Dunn said Monday. “But also to prevent you from potentially infecting other, who if they got COVID-19, they would have to go to the hospital and receive a high level of medical care.”
Dr. Dunn points out that so far only 10 percent of the 806 cases in Utah are result of community spread. The other 90 percent had contact with a known case.
