Barnstable County Urges COVID Safety Ahead of Holiday Travel

BARNSTABLE – As the holiday travel season begins, local health experts are urging residents to use safe practices amid an expected surge in flu and COVID cases. 

“Most people are going to be spending more time indoors. The holidays are upon us, people are socializing and contagious viruses like COVID are going to spread considerably more easily,” Barnstable County Public Health Nurse Wendy Judd said.

She said travelers should test for COVID before going on any trips, and stay home if they are positive. She also encouraged residents to continue mask-wearing and washing their hands often. 

As the healthcare system nationwide also wrestles with RSV this season, Judd said precautions against viruses are all the more important. 

She added that private insurance and Medicare will pay for up to eight COVID tests per month. 

“So basically, they would go to their pharmacies, some of them on the website are CVS, Rite-Aid and Walgreens—just to mention a few—which insurance will cover to get tests that way. We do encourage that,” Judd said.

She also highlighted an upcoming vaccine clinic hosted by the county on December 14 from 9 am to noon at the Barnstable County Complex, which will have both flu shots and updated bivalent COVID boosters available. 

Pre-registration is required for the clinic, which can be done on the Barnstable County website

Vaccines can also be found through vaxfinder.mass.gov, the state’s official vaccine search resource. 

The full Sunday Journal interview with Judd can be listened to here.

About Grady Culhane

Grady Culhane is a Cape Cod native from Eastham. He studied media communications at Cape Cod Community College and joined the CapeCod.com News Center in 2019.



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