DES MOINES, Iowa — Yes, you can still go outside while practicing social distancing. In fact, health experts encourage it so long as you stay away from others and avoid touching shared surfaces.
"While they might be called 'stay at home' orders, they're mostly 'stay away from other people orders', except the people in your own household," UnityPoint Dr. Austin Baeth said. "It is so important to keep going outside and keep exercising, just keep your distance from other people."
This is a stressful time. There are many unknowns and we are getting inundated by information all day. Baeth said that's why it's important to find ways to unplug during this pandemic.
Wednesday, Iowa Department of Public Health Director Gerd Clabaugh gave these recommendations to Iowans:
- Read and listen to trusted sources like the IDPH and CDC for information.
- Unplug from your electronic devices when you feel overwhelmed.
- Stay healthy by prioritizing sleeping, exercising and social distancing.
- Control what you can: wash your hands, practice social distancing and stay home as much as possible.
Are we allowed to walk in the park? Can we play a round of golf?
There are a lot of questions about what it really means to 'stay home.
Gov. Kim Reynolds Wednesday said you should be staying home as much as possible, and strongly discourages people to go out if they are showing any COVID-19 symptoms.
Right now, there is no statewide shelter-in-place order in Iowa.
Reynolds has put several restrictions in place, such as prohibiting dine-in services at restaurants and closing many retail stores. Currently, her proclamations haven't banned golfing. They also haven't addressed park closures.
The Iowa Department of Public Health said while golf courses aren't ordered to close, they do remind everyone participating in outdoor activities to practice social distancing and clean shared surfaces regularly.
IDPH said employees and guests can also be screened and prohibited from working or playing if they have a fever or respiratory symptoms.
Golf courses that are open right now are taking steps to keep players safe.
"This last Monday was the first really nice, busy day that we've had," Willow Creek Golf Course Manager Dan Clark said. "We learned from that, that some people do pay attention to social distancing, some people don't pay attention. So we've helped put in some rules to enforce that so they have to."
Some new protocols you can expect to see at Willow Creek in West Des Moines include golf carts getting sanitized after each use, players can't remove flagsticks and the course put blocks in the cups so your ball can't go in the hole.
Willow Creek also changed how they register golfers.
"We limit how many people can come into the clubhouse, we're asking people to pay only with credit cards and we will wipe the cards down before we use them and hand them back," Clark said.
Wednesday, three women took a 'socially-distant' walk after work along the river in downtown Des Moines.
"It's refreshing, fills the soul just to get to talk to my friends and to be outside and feel like a normal human for a little bit," Hannah Albrecht said.
"There's a lot of uncertainty," Katie O'Keefe said. "There are a lot of things going on and it impacts every part of our lives, especially emotional and mental health. For me and my friends at least, it helps to have that time and interact with each other while also abiding by guidelines -- making sure that we're six feet apart and giving enough space to people on the trails and all that."
Of course, if you aren't feeling well, be sure to stay inside so you don't contribute to the spread of COVID-19.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends frequent hand washing, avoiding close contact with others and staying home if you are sick as main areas of focus for prevention and containment of COVID-19.