True False Film Festival provides resources amid spread of Coronavirus
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
True False Film Festival will take place this weekend in Columbia, bringing thousands of people downtown..
Amid the spread of the coronavirus or COVID-19, to the United States, the film fest's organizers are working to ease people's fears.
"We're getting hand sanitizer for our venues and especially for our events that have food and drinks," said Festival Director Camellia Cosgray.
"We are also printing out and posting signs with information from the CDC, specifically giving people advice about just sort of basic precautions like, you know, washing your hands and how long to wash your hands, when and all that good stuff," she said.
Cosgray said festival organizers have been in contact with the Columbia/Boone County Health Department.
"They've been in close contact with the CDC and the state. At this point, we don't have any concerns, and we don't have concerns either as long as people are following those basic precautions," she said.
The Columbia/Boone County Health Department said the symptoms of the virus are similar to symptoms of the flu, including fever and shortness of breath.
Lucio Bitoy with the department said people should wash their hands for at least 20 seconds, cough into a tissue, and take basic steps to avoid coming in contact with the virus.
He said Public Health and Human Services has an emergency preparedness plan that includes how to respond to outbreaks and pandemics. Staff meets with local healthcare providers and first responders regularly to make sure their individual plans compliment each other.
Cosgray said the festival informed the health department about where guests will be traveling from.
"We checked with them about those locations to make sure that there weren't any concerns there and there weren't," she said. "You know, nobody from any of the countries that have restricted travel is coming."
She said they will continue to track the situation and reevaluate what needs to be done.
Cosgray said festival organizers have received a few emails from people asking what steps they are taking to protect people's health, but she does not think COVID-19 will have a large impact on the number of people who attend the festival.
"You know, we're sort of in the middle of flu season regardless of what year it is so I don't really anticipate it at this point that it's going to have more of an effect than the flu normally would," she said.
True False Film Festival has some basic information about preventing the spread of the virus. Cosgray said if people are sick they are asking them to stay home.
The festival will take place Thursday through Sunday.
