UPDATED CORONAVIRUS STATISTICS:
126 deaths and 875 hospitalizations in Colorado.
At least 126 people in Colorado have died from complications of the novel coronavirus, as hospitalizations and confirmed cases continue to rise, health officials said Saturday.
The state health department says 875 people — including 52 since Friday — have been hospitalized with COVID-19, the highly infectious respiratory illness caused by the virus, while health officials confirmed 30 outbreaks at residential and nonhospital health care facilities.
The 4,565 confirmed cases come from 54 of Colorado’s 64 counties, as the virus continues to spread through the state. After weeks lamenting the state’s testing capabilities, Gov. Jared Polis said last week that testing has improved greatly, even as health officials estimate Colorado’s actual total cases are likely four to 10 times higher than is currently known.
Polis has since focused his attention on acquiring muchneeded medical supplies and personal protection equipment as Colorado prepares for a feared surge in COVID-19 patients that could overwhelm its health care system.
On Friday night, the governor said on CNN that Colorado was making a deal with a manufacturer for an order of ventilators for use in the state when the Federal Emergency Management Agency swooped in and took it.
“Either be in or out,” Polis told CNN’S Don Lemon. “Either you’re buying them and you’re providing them to states and you’re letting us know what we’re going to get and when we’re going to get them. Or you stay out, and let us buy them.”
Prior to Polis’ comments, CNN reported that Colorado had an order canceled for 500 ventilators, among other supplies, because the items were being bought by FEMA.
A congressional source told CNN that Colorado was told it was not on the priority list and the state would have to find its own supplies.
“We can’t compete against our own federal government,” Polis said. “So either work with us, or don’t do anything at all. But this middle ground where they’re buying stuff out from under us and not telling us what we’re going to get, that’s really challenging to manage our hospital surge and our safety of our health care workers in that kind of environment.”
On Saturday, the governor and a collection of local government agencies released a letter addressed to Colorado’s congressional delegation in Washington, requesting $500 billion be included in the next federal stimulus package to help state and local governments fight the novel coronavirus outbreak.
“As you look toward the Phase 4 stimulus package, we stand united as state and local partners on the front lines of this crisis, urging you to include at least $500 billion in direct, robust and immediate state and local aid,” the letter says. “Absent this assistance, the state of Colorado and local governments who are directly helping Colorado’s communities respond and recover from the impacts of this public health crisis will face an unmitigated economic crisis.”