Why Health Officers Are Concerned About St. Patrick’s Day, Spring Travel

By the end of the week, more than 58,000 Ingham County residents will have gotten at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine. Even with vaccinations on the rise, the Ingham County Health Department sees some potential risks ahead.

Wednesday is St. Patrick’s Day, one of the busiest days of the year for bars. In East Lansing, indoor capacity limits are being enforced, and lines outside bars are not permitted.

Also on the horizon is spring break. Ingham County Health Officer Linda Vail hopes people will limit travel, but take precautions if they do hit the road. “You know, nobody has locked down travel at this point in time,” Vail says, “so it’s just a matter of just trying to continue to encourage diligence about what is safe and what is not safe.”

Vail hopes that diligence will prevent a spring surge of COVID-19 cases. “It’s a concerning time,” she concludes, “especially when we’re seeing an increase in cases in general, which hopefully, we’re not going to see that giant surge. We’re just going to see a little bit of a tip up, and come back down.”