COVID-19 General Colorado Thread (Denver, Aurora: public schools, inspection, closing)

[Mike from back east]

Pitkin County made the news in DC today in the WaPo.

Excerpt: "Karen Koenemann wakes up at dawn, rubs the sleep out of her eyes and immediately starts tapping away on her iPhone from her bed. The anxious emails that began to sprinkle in a few weeks ago are now a daily deluge for the public health director for Pitkin County, Colo. Since the coronavirus reached U.S. soil, thousands of local health officials across the country have been working nonstop and scrambling to prepare. Pitkin County has not had a case, at least not yet, but Koenemann has helped businesses decide whether to cancel conferences, walked leaders through potential school closures, pored over response plans with the hospital in the county seat of Aspen. And it is exhausting. ... decades of budget cuts have left many local departments without the staff, equipment or plans to mount an adequate response." (But you can bet Doug Bruce will be first in line demanding the guv'mint vaccinate him....)

[Vision67]

https://www.denverpost.com/2020/03/0...rus-testing-2/

"As the number of coronavirus cases in Colorado rose to 12 on Monday, state health officials said they’ve now tested 184 people for the highly infectious COVID-19 respiratory disease that’s sweeping the globe.

In the process of evaluating those patients, Colorado’s state lab performed a total of 296 tests, because health officials prefer to run two samples per patient, though they can’t always do that.

That’s still below the state’s full capacity to test for the new coronavirus. Health officials announced one week ago they no longer had to rely on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for initial testing, and now had the ability to conduct up to 160 tests a day.

In a statement Monday evening, officials with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment reiterated that while they can perform that many tests per day, they “must prioritize testing specimens that meet the current criteria.”"

"Those criteria include fever or signs of respiratory illness and either having had contact with a COVID-19 patient or having traveled to a location with ongoing community spread of the disease.

State health officials are urging Coloradans who fear they’re infected to call their health providers first to arrange a visit. If those providers determine a patient needs to be tested, they will collect specimens from the nose and throat to be sent to the state lab.

Colorado currently has 900 coronavirus testing kits, and is expecting 700 more from the CDC, officials said.

Monday saw the announcement of four new cases, among people living in Denver, Arapahoe, Eagle and Larimer counties, as well as concerns about 13 Australians visiting Aspen who may have been exposed. Other cases previously were reported in Douglas, Summit and El Paso counties.

The tests conducted in Colorado are considered “presumptive positive.” The state has sent them to the CDC for official confirmation. The state health department has not yet heard back from the CDC on tests performed on samples taken last week."

[vunderbar]

Please stop comparing this to the flu.

1. Coronavirus (CV) is far more contagious than the flu.
2. Coronavirus is deadlier than the flu. Every estimate shows it. Some merely ten times, some exponentially higher.
3. There is no medication to treat Coronavirus, unlike the flu; instead, we have serious shortages of equipment needed for the treatments we do use.
4. There is no vaccine for CV as opposed to the flu - which has vaccines that will increase your immune system even if you've been vaccinated for a different strain of the flu.

The US does have some advantages in dealing with this. Fewer of us smoke than in Europe or Asia. We generally live in less dense areas and therefore can put greater distance between us and the people around us. Finally, we've had at least a month (though actually closer to two months) advance notice that this is coming, and that this could be bad.

Let's hope these factors mitigate CV in the US. In the meantime, please be responsible in your lifestyle choices. Nations that reacted firmly, that demanded and received discipline from their people, are the nations that are dealing with this effectively.

[Miss Hepburn]

Originally Posted by pikabike

Why such surprise that it is in CO?

*snip*

Duh.

I looked back, I didn't see one person that acted surprised.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Walmart and Target have 'Microban 24" Spray disinfectant $4... great for offices - esp the incoming door.
I'm placing it with a note for all to see - ''Each morning knobs get sprayed.''
Lasts for multiple touches.
Directions for fabric, metal, porous surfaces.
As of yesterday Dollar Tree had lots of $1 bags of surgical gloves.

Please stop comparing it to the flu.

I can compare it to my mother-in-law if I want to, sorry.
''61,000 people died in the 2017-2018 flu season'', btw. 45 million had it.

[bluescreen73]

Why are things being canceled or postponed left-and-right? In a week we've gone from 5 cases to 44 in Colorado. That's why. People need to stop pretending like this is NBD. It is a big deal. If we let it run unchecked it will crush our healthcare system and untold thousands of people will die.

[Miss Hepburn]

Originally Posted by bluescreen73

Why are things being canceled or postponed left-and-right? In a week we've gone from 5 cases to 44 in Colorado. That's why. People need to stop pretending like this is NBD.
It is a big deal. If we let it run unchecked it will crush our healthcare system and untold thousands of people will die.

Exactly, canceling slows it down --- the Hospitals wouldn't have enough respirators
or maybe even rooms.
Thanks for that input.

[TCHP]

For any naysayers or conspiracy theory fans, Google "flatten the corona curve" to see why it matters to respond so significantly up front in a case like this.

[2bindenver]

MLB, NHL & NBA are all postponed. New cases reported in Jeffco. One of my daughter's cubemates is in respiratory failure at an unknown hospital....

May the odds be ever in your favor.

[mic111]

This is an interesting page with info on age and where the person was exposed.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/e...Pz7UD50yQD/pub


The high number in Aspen is largely among Australians of similar age. I wonder if they brought it with them.

Pitkin County

• One case is a man in his 50s, is an Australian visiting Aspen.
• One case is a female in her 20s, exposure is under investigation.
• One case is a female in her 60s, is an Australian visiting Aspen.
• One case is a female in her 60s, is an Australian visiting Aspen.
• One case is a male in his 60s, is an Australian visiting Aspen.
• One case is a male in his 60s, is an Australian visiting Aspen.
• One case is a male in his 60s, is an Australian visiting Aspen.
• One case is a male in his 70s, is an Australian visiting Aspen.
• One case is a male in his 60s, is an Australian visiting Aspen.
• One case is a male in his 70s, is an Australian visiting Aspen.

As of 5 p.m. on March 12: 49 of 430 tested so a 11.4% positive rate. It will be interesting to see how that changes going forward.

[brightdoglover]

Originally Posted by mic111

This is an interesting page with info on age and where the person was exposed.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/e...Pz7UD50yQD/pub


The high number in Aspen is largely among Australians of similar age. I wonder if they brought it with them.

...

No doubt they flew in and made transfers and so forth. Not sure where they would have "brought it with them" from, but of course it looks like they all caught it together.