STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK

The Argyros Theatre for the Performing Arts is now asking guests over the age of 12 to show proof of vaccination against COVID-19.

“It’s time to M.O.V.E. (Mask on, Vax Essential) Forward” to protect the safety of guests in response to changing circumstances, staff announced.

Valid forms of proof include a CDC Vaccination Record Card or a digital photo. Patrons may email an image of their card to boxoffice@theargyros.org for faster admission, using the subject line “CDC Card” in the email.

A negative COVID-19 tests taken within 72 hours of showtime will be accepted in place of proof of vaccination.

Mask wearing will also be required. Approved face coverings include N95 and KN95 masks, three-ply surgical masks and reusable cloth masks. Gaiters, bandanas, scarves, plastic face shields and masks with one-way valves are not allowed. The Argyros will provide masks to those who do not have one.

The Argyros, like some other businesses around town, also has installed hospital-grade state-of-the-art Needlepoint Bipolar Ionization Filters to continually clean the air at the theater.

The measures are meant to protect people, staff said. They're hopeful that even someone who may have chosen not to get vaccinated because of an autoimmune disease will feel safer attending an event, given this extra measure of caution.

The Sun Valley Writers Conference asked attendees to show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test earlier this summer.

Others, such as The Spot, are not requiring that guests be vaccinated. But they are requesting that attendees wear masks out of respect for others.

CITY OF SUN VALLEY NOTES “TROUBLING TREND

Sun Valley Mayor Peter Hendricks sent out a message to his constituents on Wednesday, asking them to take advantage of vaccines while taking measures to protect themselves and loved ones. Though the current vaccination rate in Blaine County is 90 percent—significantly above state and national rates—the city recorded four new infections this week.

“While the absolute number is not large, the trend is troubling,” Hendricks said, noting that cases also have increased in Blaine County.

The city will continue to have in-person meetings but will also offer the option of attending virtually for the time being in light of the more transmissible Delta variant.

NEWS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED…

• A new study from the CDC indicates that the unvaccinated are more than 29 times more likely to be hospitalized because of COVID as those who are fully vaccinated. The study looked at infections among more than 43,000 people in Los Angeles.
• Johnson & Johnson has submitted data to the FDA indicating that a booster shot dramatically raises the levels of antibodies against the coronavirus.
• Oregon has enacted an outdoor mask mandate when those of different households can’t distance themselves. Oregon is requiring those who work or volunteer in schools and health care facilities to be vaccinated.
• The Pentagon, Chevron, Goldman Sachs, United Airlines and even Micron are expediting plans to have employees vaccinated in the wake of the full authorization of the Pfizer vaccine. Delta is assessing its unvaccinated workers $200 a month and requiring COVID tests noting that the average hospital stay for workers with COVID-19 has cost Delta $50,000 per person.
• There is no risk of emotional problems or harm to children’s development from wearing masks, according to The American Academy of Pediatrics.
• The University of Virginia dropped 238 students from its rolls for not complying with the university’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate. Only 49 were actually enrolled in classes—the others may not have planned on returning this fall.
• An Alabama doctor this week has sent notice to his patients: No vaccination, no treatment. And hospitals in North Texas have developed a plan allowing doctors to take vaccination status into account when deciding how to triage ICU beds if they begin running out of beds, according to The Dallas Morning News.
• Children three and younger are the most likely to spread the COVID-19 virus to their households according to a study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association. Those 4 through 13 also have higher odds of transmission than those 14 to 17.
• Idaho is in the bottom 10 among states with the lowest vaccination rates. And hospitalization and death rates are more than 5.5 times higher in those states than in the top 10 states. The state reported 1,019 new cases on Wednesday.
• Sixty percent of white-tailed deer tested in Michigan have been exposed to the novel coronavirus, scientists say. They also believe that the white-tailed deer populations in Illinois, New York and Pennsylvania have been exposed. None of the deer showed signs of illness associated with COVID-19.
• The White House is requiring the nation’s 1.6 million staff at long-term care facilities to be vaccinated to protect some 1.3 million at-risk residents. Currently, 59 percent of Idaho’s nursing home staff are vaccinated, according to the National Health Care Safety Network.
• Garth Brooks has cancelled tour dates due to the Delta variant, saying he must do his part in the “war” against COVID.
• Officials say that banning mask mandates could lead to civil rights lawsuits if they lead to unsafe conditions that prevent students from attending school.
• The Oakland Raiders will require vaccines at home games. Meanwhile, the Atlanta Falcons has become the first team to vaccinate all its players.
• COVID patients typically stay in the ICU twice as long as other ICU admissions.
• A new study says that thousands of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the West may have been due to wildfire smoke. Harvard University researchers said in a study published in the journal Science Advances that 20 percent of cases have been linked to the increase in wildfire smoke according to data from 92 counties in California, Oregon and Washington from March to December 2020.

  Wildfire smoke contains high levels of the smallest, most dangerous type of soot known as PM 2.5. Chemicals in that—or other air pollution—even cigarette smoke—inflames cells lining airways and lungs and is believed to impair the body’s immune response by hampering the ability of white blood cells in the lungs to act.

• If you thought a bout with COVID has given you necessary immunity, think again. A new study by the Centers for Disease Control shows that unvaccinated COVID survivors are twice as likely to get reinfected than those who were fully vaccinated.
• Military is now required to get the COVID vaccine. But some members of the military were already required to get as many as 17 vaccinations, depending on where they are deployed. Those vaccines include Hepatitis A and B, polio, rabies, encephalitis, anthrax, yellow fever and malaria.