According to the Ohio Department of Health's Public Health Advisory System, there is a Level 3 (red) public emergency in Madison County due to "very high exposure and spread" of COVID-19. Still, on Saturday night, the Madison County Fairgrounds played host to a sold-out concert that attracted hundreds of fans.
"We have a socially distanced country concert," said Cory Coburn, president for Reagans Productions, the company putting on the event.
Coburn spoke to 10TV before the concert began.
"Obviously, this is our first concert/event that we've been able to hold this year due to COVID-19, so we're excited to welcome folks in," Coburn said.
The concert featured performer Easton Corbin. Reagans worked with the Madison County Public Health Department and several other agencies to make sure safety plans were in place.
They all met Friday evening to discuss the plans and make sure they were ready to go. They also met before the concert to go back through them.
"We did a complete run-through of guidelines and what rules we're going to be enforcing," Coburn said.
Those rules included cutting capacity from 1800 to 365 people. They also took everyone's temperature before allowing them inside the covered venue.
Concertgoers had assigned tables or spots that were socially distanced between parties, they weren't allowed to stand and masks had to be worn at all times with the exception of eating or drinking.
"No congregating, so we have security and our event team here to strictly enforce that and to keep safety and our community. Health is our No. 1 priority," Coburn said.
With Madison County being in the red, meaning numbers of COVID-19 cases are high, we asked Coburn if that made them nervous.
"I feel very confident about our plans we have in place, and discussions with our local health departments and local agencies. We've reviewed all the plans, we've taken some of the rules and made them even stricter to really make sure safety is our No. 1 priority, and with the discussions and meeting that we've had with them, we feel confident that we can properly execute this event," Coburn said.
As for the guests, the company strongly urged self-health assessments before entering. Leading up to the concert, they posted safety reminders on their social media pages.
We checked back in with Coburn during the concert, and he said things were going smoothly.
"Concert has started and every one is 100% cooperating and adhering to all of the state and local rules," Coburn said.
They plan to review this event and their plans with local agencies afterward, in hopes of being able to have more concerts