The sobering statistics keep coming; by Friday evening, March 27, Chaffee County had nine confirmed cases of the coronavirus known as COVID-19, with more positive tests expected. Heart of the Rockies Regional Medical Center has confirmed that it has one hospitalized case and expects more.
Governor Jared Polis asks Coloradans to Stay at Home with Executive Order. Screenshot taken of the press conference held by Polis announcing the Executive Order.
Colorado statistics grew substantially between Thursday and Friday evening. Total cases grew by more than 300 in 24 hours, up by more than 21 percent, and cases were reported in three additional counties,
As of 4 p.m. Friday the Colorado COVID-19 data stood at:
Cases of confirmed COVID-19 1,734
Hospitalizations 239
Counties 42
Tested 11,676
Deaths 31
Outbreaks at residential health care facilities 9
Chaffee County reported the following cases:
The Chaffee County Department of Public Health (CCPH) reports nine confirmed cases, with many pending tests. CCPH reports many negative tests as well, with one death already reported:
Tested positive:
46-year-old man, ‘reported doing better’
83-year-old man, died
72-year-old man, who had traveled to another county
72-year-old man
80-year-old female, Columbine Manor
69-year-old man, Columbine Manor (of the two from Columbine, one is recovering, the other in critical condition.)
67-year-old man, in hospital
43-year-old man
1 new case, age and gender as yet unreported
While eight of the nine confirmed cases in Chaffee County are men, this differs significantly from state data; which shows that 51 percent of the positive cases are women, and only 49 percent are men.
The rate of positive test in Colorado appears to be following the same growth curve being experienced by other states who have exceeded 1,000 positive cases; steep, rapid, and relentless.
Colorado Cases per 100,000 Population
Just as concerning is that the four Colorado counties with the highest percentage of cases per 100,000 population are all mountain counties:
Gunnison 384.32 per 100,000
Eagle 309.86 per 100,000
Pitkin 139.83 per 100,000
Routt 46.72 per 100,000
Chaffee County Public Health
By contrast, Chaffee County currently stands at 24.97 per 100,000 population, but that number is already rising.
The significance of the positive cases per 100,000 cases to rural counties is simply capacity. Rural counties lack the density of healthcare facilities – meaning hospital beds, first-responder staff, intensive care units and ventilators necessary to treat high levels of positive cases. Healthcare facilities in these counties are already experiencing strain. Experts continue to point out that neither the state, nor the country, are anywhere near the peak of this pandemic, which is still at least a few weeks away.
During the Friday, March 27 COVID-19 town hall session, Chaffee County Director of Public Health Andrea Carlstrom announced that Chaffee County will instigate a self reporting tool on the county website this weekend. “If you believe you are symptomatic, [once the site is up] you can report that information there. Then, if you think you are a mild case, you can isolate,” said Carlstrom. “We can test here in Chaffee County, but with so few tests available, this will help us sort mild cases from the more serious ones.”
Carlstrom discussed isolation. “Isolation’ is a stigmatized term – it only ends when the criteria has been met. You are no longer at risk to pass this on only when you’ve had no fever for at least 72 hours without medication. Even then, stay separate and wear a face mask.” She added that “ healthy people don’t need to wear masks, but wash your hands.”
Carlstrom reinforced the enhanced Colorado public health orders. “This week Gov. Polis issued amended orders to stay at home….those ill can only leave home for medical care, and the order allows for minimum operation for business…payroll, HR functions, but that’s it, except for essential services.”
Alert sent out on March 26 to Colorado Residents enforcing the Executive Stay at Home Order from Governor Jared Polis
She reiterated that the Chaffee County local public health order states that that any short term lodging entities are only allowed to accept guests for critical workforce needs, housing insecure and emergencies. “Our public health order is more strict than the state’s and we want people to listen and obey it.”
The Chair of the Chaffee Board of County Commissioners Greg Felt reinforced Carlstrom’s message.
“I want to express gratitude to everyone on the front lines. With the calls into public health and the medical community this week, those working essential functions, people who are really tired and stressed …. we’re sort of in this calm before the storm. Let’s try to err on the side of caution – think what would happen if something goes wrong now; think if I hurt myself, if we get a power outage like some experienced this morning (Salida area). Just think– and be careful.”
Felt had a social media message as well. “Let’s continue to be kind – social media is a tool, but it’s too easy to vent your anger and not so easy now to [be] shrugged off. I love the humor, the photos of what people are doing as we social distance. Just think before you post.”
Thank you for keeping updated and all the great things you all do to keep us informed about not only this crisis but everyday life in our area.You all are greatly appreciated!
If the director of public health would do something to prevent those of us with compromised immune systems and asthma and breathing problems from being harmed in this community by the dust storms we now get almost daily then she would have a better survival rate. The conditions in this community due to the dust and the yearly season change heavy winds that we have will make my survival less likely and I am not the only one. This county has refused to do anything to alleviate the dust problem that has worsened with irresponsible farming and development. If they don’t see it, it didn’t happen. People need to complain. It is necessary for change.
For a decade I have been attempting to get my neighbor to stop doing so much harm. He has changed a few things, but will not address his dust nuisance. The dust bowl from Butala, farm to table, the mesa and around the airport with the new development feeds the dust clouds and I have watched them grow from occasional and seasonal to weekly all year. The development in Poncha and east of town are adding more to the issue sot that the entire town is having dust problems and breathing issues instead of just us out here in the dust bowl of our superfund site in Smeltertown now being further developed. Our hospital is now a heavy dust area due to the construction and has been since it moved to that wetland it shouldn’t be in. There is no safe place for anyone with lung problems to walk in their area designated for healthy walking. Our county is selling the area surrounding the hospital as a healthy place for seniors. The reality is that the dust is worse every year and the health dept. and the county have refused to correct these issues or hold developers, contractors or farmers responsible. The dust and the wind cause problems for asthmatics and those with allergies this time of year and so many of us have those symptoms already and are run down and more likely to be sickened more seriously by this virus. This causes some like myself to isolate early and some to dismiss their symptoms as the usual. This is also dangerous to the public and those not able to be tested due to lack of doctor skews the numbers.
Now with people off of work the farmers will be busying themselves with their plowing during this health crisis and they will add to the problem. Neither our county or our health department consider any of these things in the quality of life they have robbed many long term residents of. It would have been nice if our health department and our county had helped me in my endeavor to return my own environment to a healthy one, but they refused. Now if they are thinking about the people and not about money or politics they will do something to prevent the dust being worsened during this crisis.
I don’t believe them capable of doing anything for the people as long as profit and business will be lost. The people have a right to be angry. If they’d do it more often we’d be in better shape going into this.
Hello Beth. At this point the urgent public health threat is the coronoavirus, and all of us need to support that effort in every way we can. Sorry to hear about your asthma. Members of my own family have asthma and I am aware of its impact on quality of life. Perhaps if dust is a bother always wear a mask when walking. As to the claims you make about “dust bowls” blowing dust is simply a fact of life on farms and ranches. I grew up on a farm and can testify to the fact that the acts of plowing, planting fertilizing and weeding all generate dust — as they have for generations. This is NOT new. Agricultural activities are a protected activity under the state’s Right to Farm and Ranch statutes. From your description, I would say that your residence appears to lie in the valley where your direct wind pattern is from the west. It is true that development is occurring, as it is everywhere in the state. People have property rights and they have a right to sell or develop their land as long as they meet sate and county guidelines, which are not the responsibility of the public health dept. As ranchers have sold off individual 35 acre parcels, it is true that some of the valley land has reverted to the semi-arid conditions which preceded the arrival of the pioneers, because it isn’t being fully irrigated. But those land conditions are historic; preceding the irrigation ditches begun when people first settled this valley. We are not aware of any effort by this county to “sell the area surrounding the hospital as a healthy place for seniors.”