Among the first Coloradans to be vaccinated against COVID-19 were residents and employees of nursing homes and other senior-care centers in the state. But while these efforts initially seemed to be eliminating outbreaks at such facilities, that s clearly not the case. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment has reported nearly 100 outbreaks at health-care sites in the past two weeks, with the category surpassing outbreaks at K-12 schools for the first time in months.
The CDPHE considers an entity an outbreak after two or more COVID-19 cases among residents, staffers or other people connected to a specific location are confirmed within a fourteen-day period, or two or more cases of respiratory illness with an onset of symptoms within a fourteen-day period are paired with at least one additional COVID-19 diagnosis. The vast majority of businesses and facilities identified as outbreaks remain open while working with the department to monitor symptoms and prevent future
It s a good thing the school year is almost over: The latest report from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment lists 58 new COVID-19 outbreaks at K-12 schools, the most in a single week since the department began releasing weekly outbreak lists over a year ago.
Of the 859 outbreaks currently under active investigation by the CDPHE, K-12 schools account for 251, or just over 29 percent of the total. That appears to be a record, too.
The CDPHE considers an entity an outbreak after two or more COVID-19 cases among residents, staffers or other people connected to a specific location are confirmed within a fourteen-day period, or two or more cases of respiratory illness with an onset of symptoms within a fourteen-day period are paired with at least one additional COVID-19 diagnosis. The vast majority of businesses and facilities identified as outbreaks remain open while working with the department to monitor symptoms and prevent future infections.
At this point in the COVID-19 pandemic, with vaccination rates going up and inoculations now available to anyone over fifteen, officials had hoped that case counts would be in serious decline. But no: This week s roundup of data from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment shows infections and hospitalizations continuing to rise and the number of newly identified outbreaks has skyrocketed.
The 170 new outbreak sites in the state listed on the CDPHE s just-released April 28 survey represents a 13.166 percent increase in just seven days and the spike is paced by an explosion of outbreaks at schools in which the overwhelming majority of positive tests involve students. The 52 outbreaks at K-12 facilities account for well over a quarter of the new outbreaks.
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment just reported nearly 150 new COVID-19 outbreaks identified in the past week. Well over half of them are located in four counties, including Denver, that are currently at Level Red on the agency s dial dashboard, a system that transitioned from compulsory to advisory on April 16.
The CDPHE considers an entity an outbreak after two or more COVID-19 cases among residents, staffers or other people connected to a specific location are confirmed within a fourteen-day period, or two or more cases of respiratory illness with an onset of symptoms within a fourteen-day period are paired with at least one additional COVID-19 diagnosis. The vast majority of businesses and facilities identified as outbreaks remain open while working with the department to monitor symptoms and prevent future infections.
The numbers released by the CDPHE on April 7, however, reflect 626 active and 3,787 resolved outbreaks, adding up to to 4,413 a leap of 127 outbreaks, and more than a 69 percent increase in a week, to the highest weekly total since January 27, as the state was working through the remnants of a holiday surge.
Given the overall rise, it s no surprise that several major outbreak categories saw increases this week. Fresh outbreaks at twelve K-12 schools had been included on March 31; fifteen popped up on April 7. Twelve outbreaks at health-care facilities were announced on March 31 and again on April 7, but nine of the latest are at facilities that cater to vulnerable seniors, as opposed to six a week earlier. There are eight more outbreaks at retailers, led by the giant Costco complex in Westminster seen at the top of this post.