Watch: Celebrate safely on Sunday

This Sunday is Super Bowl Sunday. Earlier this week, The New York Times reported that two separate surveys — one by Seton Hall University and one by the National Retail Federation — found that nearly 30 percent of respondents said they would attend a Super Bowl gathering at someone’s home or watch the game at a restaurant or a bar.

Even though we’ve seen a decrease in COVID-19 cases in almost every state, it’s still at very high levels. And now that the new, more contagious, coronavirus variants have been identified in the United States, it’s more important than ever to reduce our risks of exposure to the virus.

In the video below, Michael Myint, MD, infectious disease specialist and epidemiologist at MultiCare, talks about the risks “Big Game” celebrations may pose to our work to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in our communities, and across the country.

Remember, Washington state’s Healthy Washington – Roadmap to Recovery (PDF) prohibits indoor social gatherings of any kind for counties in Phase 1, and limits Phase 1 outdoor social gatherings to a maximum of 10 people from outside your household, limited to two households. Indoor dining is also prohibited in Phase 1.

Counties in Phase 2 may have indoor social gatherings with a maximum of five people from outside your household, limited to two households; outdoor gatherings are capped at a mximum of 15 people from outside your household, limited to 2 households. Indoor dining is allowed at 25 percent of the venue’s capacity, with seating restrictions.

View the state’s current status report (PDF) to find out what phase your county is in.