A Garfield County Public Health update Monday served as a two-year statistical summary of the COVID-19 pandemic locally, as well as a changing of the guard in the county’s top public health position.
Chelsea Self / Post Independent
The rate of new coronavirus disease cases in Garfield County continues to decline, following state and national trends of late, but there is some concern that the number of people seeking testing has also dropped off.
As of Tuesday, the number of new COVID-19 cases per day over the past two weeks had dropped to less than nine.
The latest seven-day total was 34 cases, and the county’s test positivity rate has dropped to 2.2%.
Both of those measures, and a test-turnaround time of 1.8 days, puts Garfield County at Level Blue, or “cautious,” in terms of risk of disease spread.
Chelsea Self / Post Independent
As Colorado continues to be one of the leading states in the nation in providing COVID-19 vaccinations, Garfield County is still urging lesser-risk residents to remain patient even as people 70 and older can now schedule an appointment to receive the vaccine.
“Colorado is about fourth in the country as far as the number of shots being given,” said Garfield County Public Health Specialist Carrie Godes. “At the local public health level, we’re trying to be efficient, and when the vaccine comes in, we’re trying to get it out like ASAP.”
So far, people eligible to receive COVID-19 vaccinations can either fall under “1A” or “1B” phases. People classified in those categories include high- and moderate-risk frontline medical workers and first responders, as well as people like pharmacists, dentists and various frontline essential workers.