By Ammie Ruddle
The county’s largest festival of the year took place Sept. 15-18 and brought fun, food, and entertainment; however, it did not bring an increase in COVID numbers.
Brooke Hott, registered sanitarian with the Pendleton County Health Department, said there was no reported increase with the COVID spread post festival.
She went on to explain that the county was in “double digits” with its COVID numbers prior to Treasure Mountain Festival, but the numbers have decreased since then.
Currently there are nine reported cases of COVID in the county.
Hott said that she believes this is because the TMF Association provided multiple hand washing and sanitation stations available for festival-goers.
She added, “People are more mindful of how easy COVID can spread and took the proper precautions to avoid it.”
According to Hott, the health department may not have the accurate county COVID number due to residents purchasing at-home test kits and not reporting a positive result.
The health department has been instrumental in promoting and providing vaccinations, as well as offering free at-home COVID test kits.
