Don’t Invite Covid, Follow the Four

December 16, 2020

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Don’t Invite Covid, Follow the four: Keep Unwanted Guests Away

(Dec. 7, 2020) Lane Transit District (LTD) and its 20 partners are reminding area residents to Don’t Invite COVID to holiday family, work, and social gatherings.

LTD’s Don’t Invite COVID: Follow the Four public awareness campaign features The COVID Character, a round red blob who appears in a series of monthly social media posts as well as videos, a web page, advertising, and collateral material to remind us that the easiest way to not invite COVID is to Follow the Four by wearing a mask, washing hands frequently, observing social distancing requirements, and limiting gathering sizes to no more than six people.

“To help prevent COVID’s spread we must remind each other to Don’t Invite COVID: Follow the Four,” said Aurora Jackson, LTD’s general manager. “ We are pleased that so many community partners have joined LTD in this concerted health-first initiative to deliver these potentially life-saving messages in a respectful, yet playful way for a fresh embrace of what we can all do to prevent COVID from spreading.”

Current campaign partners include:

Current campaign partners include: Bushnell University, City of Eugene, City of Springfield, Cottage Grove Chamber of Commerce, EffecTV, Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce, Eugene Pediatrics Associates, Eugene Weekly, Florence Area Chamber of Commerce, KEZI-TV, KMTR-TV, KVAL-TV, Lamar Advertising, Lane Community College, Lane Council of Governments, Lane County, Lane Workforce Partnership, Outfront Media, Springfield Chamber of Commerce, Travel Lane County, Turell Group, Vox Public Relations Public Affairs, and Willamalane Parks & Recreation District.

“Public Health is not a government agency, it is a commitment from an entire community to work together to improve each other’s lives through health. Efforts such as the, “Don’t Invite COVID” campaign are a shining example of what public health should look like: many people, across many sectors working together to improve the health of Lane County,” said Dr. Patrick Luedtke, Lane County Senior Public Health Officer.

“Efforts such as the, “Don’t Invite COVID” campaign are a shining example of what public health should look like: many people, across many sectors working together to improve the health of Lane County,”

A soft launch of the Don’t Invite COVID: Follow the Four campaign began just before Thanksgiving; with a coordinated push by LTD and its partners scheduled to occur December 7 through February 2021.

“In collaboration with Turell Group, a Eugene marketing, public relations, and digital agency, LTD’s marketing team worked to take a respectful approach to infusing energy into a serious message that has become stale due to its repetition,” said Cosette Rees, LTD’s Director of Customer and Specialized Services.” We believe this campaign will be eye catching and will playfully nudge each of us to Follow the Four whether we are on social media, riding the bus or watching television.”

Funding for the campaign comes from the CARES ACT money the District received from the federal government in the spring. “Given the pandemic’s grip on our nation and especially our county, the District believes it is important to make the campaign’s digital and print materials available to non-profit organizations, government agencies, school districts, and businesses at no charge,” Jackson said.

“In order to truly impact our current case trajectory, we need our whole community working together. The “Don’t Invite COVID” campaign is an example of the kind of partnership we need across Lane County,” Dr. Luedtke said.

“In order to truly impact our current case trajectory, we need our whole community working together.”

To participate in the Don’t Invite COVID: Follow the Four public awareness campaign, contact LTD’s Public Information Officer Pat Walsh at pat.walsh@ltd.org.