TAZEWELL, VA (WOAY) – Tazewell County Officials have started a new campaign encouraging residents to stay safe during the pandemic.
Tazewell County officials have launched a new public information campaign called “Keep Tazewell County Open.” It’s meant to encourage residents to adhere to pandemic guidelines, and protect their communities from COVID-19. The biggest message of the campaign: follow the guidelines and prevent a shutdown.
“We want citizens to wear their mask, social distance and wash their hands so we can keep our economic development opportunities open. We want to keep our small businesses open, we want our schools to be open, we do not want any further restrictions,” A.J. Robinson, Director of Tazewell County Public Communications said.
Virginia has also just enacted a slew of new COVID restrictions. Restaurants are ordered to close by midnight and social gatherings have been restricted to just 25 people. It’s all part of a new initiative to keep COVID spread to a minimum.
“It’s on us to do. No one’s going to keep us open, we have to fight to stay open. And the way we do that is to keep from getting sick. Wear a mask, wash your hands and stay away from large groups,” Tazewell County Administrator Eric Young said.
Keep Tazewell County Open is meant to encourage folks to adhere to follow restrictions and take them seriously. If people don’t actively try to prevent spread, then things will just get even worse. And small businesses may be forced into another lockdown situation, such as back in March earlier this year.
“These are residents of our county who put their money, and their lives and their dreams on the line to keep their businesses open. And we really need to work for them to keep them open.”
Keep Tazewell County Open only just began, but the county has been hard at work keeping people safe since the beginning of the pandemic. Most recently, they’ve begun distributing health equity packets that contain essentials like sanitizer and face masks. They hope this campaign will keep the rising cases in their community to a minimum.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, Virginia has seen more than 200,000 COVID-19 cases, and 3,800 deaths.
