Purchase District Health Department Public Health Director Kent Koster says the rise in cases is connected to the relaxed restrictions.
"With everything getting close to being reopened and with people becoming more relaxed in practicing social distancing, hand washing, congregating, and traveling, we're seeing a lot more cases as a result of that," Koster said.
According to Koster, we are seeing a few more cases due to increased testing, however he believes the primary cause of the increase is due to people traveling.
Jennifer Brown with the Marshall County Health Department reported something similar. After several weeks of no new cases, Marshall County saw an uptick in cases, particularly in young adults.
"We had gone a significant number of days without any new cases, and I think here in Marshall County, perhaps we got to a point where we thought that maybe this was over for us. This recent spike in cases has just really highlighted that this is not over," said Brown, "We maybe let our guard down a little too early."
Brown then encouraged everyone to re-evaluate what they are doing both at home and in the workplace to remain safe, such as wearing masks and continuing to maintain social distancing.
"That way maybe we can keep the most recent cases to a minimum as we move forward," Brown continued.
