Larimer County reached a milestone of sorts this week with no new COVID-19 outbreaks reported at area businesses or long-term care facilities, the first time since the pandemic began in mid-March 2020.
Part of that may be attributable to the holiday weekend, higher vaccination rates and a June 1 change in the state s definition of an outbreak.
Previously, an outbreak was defined as “two or more people who are confirmed cases of COVID-19 in a workplace/facility, with onset within 14 days, or one confirmed and two or more probable cases of COVID-19 in a workplace/facility, with onset within 14 days,” according to the state’s outbreak page.
Larimer County reports no new COVID outbreaks for first time in 14 months Pat Ferrier and Molly Bohannon, Fort Collins Coloradoan
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Larimer County reached a milestone of sorts this week with no new COVID-19 outbreaks reported at area businesses or long-term care facilities, the first time since the pandemic began in mid-March 2020.
Part of that may be attributable to the holiday weekend, higher vaccination rates and a June 1 change in the state s definition of an outbreak.
Previously, an outbreak was defined as “two or more people who are confirmed cases of COVID-19 in a workplace/facility, with onset within 14 days, or one confirmed and two or more probable cases of COVID-19 in a workplace/facility, with onset within 14 days,” according to the state’s outbreak page.
Larimer County reports 10 COVID outbreaks, 14 shift to resolved coloradoan.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from coloradoan.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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
The February 10 survey reveals 895 outbreaks under active investigation and 2,806 considered resolved, for a total of 3,701 over the course of the pandemic. That s an increase of 124 in the week since our February 3 update, which totaled 3,577 outbreaks (924 active, 2,653 resolved).
This bump came despite a continuing decline in the number of nursing homes and assisted living centers experiencing outbreaks. The health-care category led these lists for months, but on February 3, it fell behind outbreaks at K-12 schools an indication that vaccinations of residents and staffers at such facilities, who began receiving inoculations in December, are having a positive effect. On February 10, fifteen health-care operations joined the outbreaks roster, up from eleven on February 3 but only ten are identified as specializing in senior services, and half of those outbreaks actually date back weeks, likely due to a lag in communication between local and state public-health agencies.