COVID-19 is not taking a break for the holidays – anywhere.
The latest case figures from the Chaffee County Public Health (CCPH) affirm that; and officials are urging residents to pay strict attention to the oft-repeated guidelines to stay safe during the ‘season to be jolly.’
The arrival of two vaccines to protect front line healthcare workers and critical personnel was one bright spot during the week before Christmas. Heart of the Rockies Regional Medical Center CEO Bob Morasko reported that around 400 employees of the hospital and clinics have thus far received a vaccination shot, an accomplishment he says he feels good about.
Delivery of a number of doses of the Pfizer vaccine occurred last Thursday and a delivery of Moderna vaccine was received by CCPH on Tuesday, Dec. 22.
The latest report shows an additional 51 cases in the past week, 116 in the past two weeks and more than 200 new cases in Chaffee County since Dec. 1. Worse news is that for tests between Dec. 3 and 17, the positivity rate rose to just shy of nine percent. There have been a total of 840 cases since the pandemic began, not counting some 85 out-of-county cases detected.
There are currently two COVID-19 cases being treated at Heart of the Rockies Regional Medical Center and the hospital is at 48 percent of capacity.
From the latest Chaffee County dashboard indicators, it’s interesting to note that the highest percentage of infections has not occurred in the oldest populations here. More than 50 percent of the cases are age 50 and below, with the highest in the 19 to 30 age group (18.5 percent) and 31 to 40 age group (18.3 percent).
Statewide, the statistics are not encouraging. Colorado passed 300,000 cases last week and currently there are more than 311,000 cases and more than 1,250 people hospitalized. The state has a seven-day case average topping 2,500 and nearly 4,400 deaths among cases. The Colorado Department of Health and Environment reports 73 percent of Colorado’s Intensive Care beds are in use and 42 percent of adult critical care ventilators are in use.
The San Luis Valley (SLV) has also had a surge in some areas. Linda Smith, SLV EPR Coordinator for the San Luis Valley Public Health Partnership, said in the Colorado COVID-19 framework, Phase 1A for vaccination includes healthcare workers who have direct contact with COVID-19 patients for 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period, and staff and residents of long term care facilities.
Vaccinations in hospitals and long term care facilities will not be administered by public health, as other arrangements have been made for those high priority vaccinations.
Colorado’s Phase 1B currently includes moderate risk health care workers and responders. As local public health agencies await initial limited shipments of Moderna vaccines, they are coordinating with agencies and organizations in these early categories to administer vaccinations. If you believe you are in one of these categories, check with your employer for more information.
Federal recommendations for vaccination phases were updated over the weekend. We anticipate Governor Polis will release updated guidelines for Colorado. Local public health agencies will be focused on Phase 1B through the winter as vaccines are made available to us.
If you have questions about COVID-19 vaccinations, see Colorado’s vaccination information page at https://covid19.colorado.gov/vaccine or call 719-480-8719.
SLV Public health would also like to express appreciation to the communities it serves, who have worked so hard under very trying circumstances to limit the spread of this virus. “Your efforts continue to make a difference. Masks, social distancing, and limited gatherings are still needed for now, but there is light ahead.”
Featured image: Chaffee County Public Health Administrative Assistant Holly Russell (left) and CCPH Director Andrea Carlstrom hold a new shipment of Moderna COVID-19 vaccine on Dec. 22. CCPH courtesy photo.
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