Dr. Donald Yealey, UPMC emergency medicine department chairman, hasn’t seen COVID-19 hotspots erupt in his hospitals’ service territories. The best way to keep it that way is for residents in UPMC’s service territory, which includes Jamestown, to keep doing what they’re doing.

While there are some models that say the pandemic’s peak may have hit late last week, the truth is no one knows if COVID-19 has indeed hit its apex point. And, relaxing our behavior too soon could mean the virus surges again.

“There are lots of models and everyone is right and everyone is wrong at the same moment in time,” Yealey said during a news conference last week. “And so I don’t actually know when the peak will happen, how long the peak will be and how high it will be. And no one who has a model knows the answer to that question yet. … I think keep doing the same things that you’re doing right now, which is continuing the isolation, adhering to the simple things — distance, hand hygiene, a mask when you’re around others. The simple things still drive prevention of illness and recovery from illness. It’s not any more complicated than that. This is not the time to stop any of that because our peak hasn’t been so high or many of the people that we’re caring for are going back home. This is the time to stay the course.”

Part of that course, we might add for travelers, is self-quarantining for at least two weeks. Dr. Christine Schuyler, county health and human services director, reiterated the travelers’ quarantine recommendation last week during a news conference. While it would be ideal for snowbirds or those for whom Chautauqua County provides a summer home to simply stay where they are until the pandemic ends, that isn’t always possible. Quarantining, with as little contact as possible with the outside world, is the best way to make sure that COVID-19 doesn’t spread into areas where the virus is relatively limited. This is particularly true for those traveling from areas where COVID-19 is rampant, like downstate New York.

Chautauqua County hasn’t been particularly hard hit by COVID-19 yet, but that doesn’t mean we are out of the woods yet. Travelers who arrive in Chautauqua County and immediately run to Wegmans or Home Depot are putting those workers at risk of taking COVID-19 home to their families. Such behavior means the risk of Chautauqua County becoming a hot spot magnifies exponentially.

We don’t blame those who travel here right now for traveling — but they must do it safely, as Sue and Greg Jones did. After an arduous trip from their winter home in Mexico to Bemus Point, the Joneses had their groceries delivered and are waiting two weeks before resuming their busy philanthropic lives. They are an example that all of our snowbirds or second home owners should follow.