Coronavirus image/CDC,Alissa Eckert, MS; Dan Higgins, MAMS
National parks and their facilities remain open during the coronavirus epidemic in the United States while National Park Service officials await further guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, agency staff said Thursday.
"To help guide the National Park Service operational response to the novel (new) coronavirus (COVID-19), the NPS Office of Public Health and the U.S. Public Health Service officers assigned to the NPS are closely monitoring the situation and keeping staff informed," Park Service acting chief spokesperson Stephanie Roulett told the Traveler in an email. "They are relying on the most updated data and information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC), the Office of Personnel and Management (OPM), state and local public health authorities, and coordinating with the DOI Office of Emergency Management.
"The national parks are open and facilities are maintaining continuity of operations," she added. "The NPS is focused on ensuring employees, their families, volunteers, and visitors are safe by following the most current guidance from the CDC, OPM, OEM, and other federal, state, and local health authorities."
The Park Service has been working to keep the public up-to-date on the situation via its public health website.
Representatives for Xanterra Parks & Resorts and Delaware North, two of the largest concessionaires in the National Park System with operations in places such as Yellowstone, Glacier, Grand Canyon, Death Valley, Sequoia, and Shenandoah national parks, did not immediately reply Thursday to emailed requests for how they were approaching the epidemic in their park lodges and restaurants.
Comments
You are like little children that have to be told every step to take. Stay away if you think there is a problem. If you were prepared in the least, you wouldn't have to worry about toilet paper, food or water. If you believe the Grand Canyon National Park poses a threat stay away. It is YOUR choice. It is time for you to wake up and take responsibility for yourself : )!!
Yes they should continue to work. I have a job dealing face to face with the public and I continue working. I guess the entirety of society should shutdown. We should just sit at home, don't leave the house.
I'm assuming that you have still gone shopping since the virus has been here. What about those poor people who had to ring up your purchase?
Perhaps keep them open to outdoor activities only. Close most buildings, gift shops, and all the areas that people cluster together. If you need information for the parks, get it from the websites before your visit. Please...through this crisis, I think people need to see something beautiful.
Keep them open..ppl need fresh air and .distractions..I work in Yellowstone..enough ppl are losing work...cancel bus tours for sure as they are in close contact but for the most part ppl in parks are out and about in various places...
Stay open!! People need fresh air!
this Hype is crazy!
Don't wait any longer! Shut down all National and State Parks! Campground restrooms, visitor centers, etc will spread the disease - and keeping them open also encourages people to keep traveling, when we should be strongly discouraging it.
Leave the parks open, good open air space people can get out to and get lost in the wilderness without a bunch of people around them.
My husband and I planned an extensive RV trip from Maine to national parks and ancient Pueblo sites. We are not worried about keeping to ourselves once we get to a park, but getting there, and getting groceries, gas, etc., have us worried about contamination. We feel morally responsible not to bring the virus home, and worried that if we get sick away from home, it would be tough to ride it out in an RV Park, let alone access health providers we don't know. We are in our early 70's, and much to our children's relief, are staying home for now. Perhaps we can be of help to our family and neighbors here as well during all this. We also fear for those Park and Native workers, as contamination happens without symptoms, as we all should know by now, and there is no federal leadership that seems to care about them, or really, bottom line, any of us. But if you live near a park and can stay away from people even if you are without symptoms (and could be a carrier), then go for a visit by all means. Let the beautiful outdoors heal and replenish you. We will too, close to home. Good luck, and remember that we are all in this together.