CU waits on county health advice
Leaders at the University of Colorado Boulder will decide whether students can return to in-person classes after county health officials meet today to discuss the stringent guidelines enacted last month to curb the spread of COVID-19 among college-aged residents.
Boulder County’s Board of Health will convene Wednesday afternoon to determine the next steps for the 2-week-old public health order that banned gatherings of 18-to-22-year-olds and placed strict stay-at-home orders on more than 35 properties largely affiliated with Greek life.
The public meeting will be held at 1 p.m. Wednesday and can be accessed through call-in number 1-720-400-7859 with conference ID #952 184 442#.
During a Tuesday public forum with local public health officials and city of Boulder representatives, university leaders stressed that decisions about relaxing some of the campus’ public health guidance or returning to in-person learning would be based off of the county Board of Health’s determinations. CU Boulder shifted classes online Sept. 23 for what officials said would be at least a two-week period.
“The good news is we’re moving in the right direction,” said Patrick O’rourke, CU Boulder chief operating officer.
On Tuesday, CU Boulder reported zero new coronavirus cases had been found via on-campus testing the day before. A surge in COVID-19 infections tied to CU Boulder had fueled a rise in Boulder County’s cases, though campus officials have pointed to a recommended self-quarantine for helping reduce the increase.
University and local public health officials repeatedly thanked students for their contribution in following public health guidance even when it was challenging.
When looking at key metrics
such as the number of new COVID-19 cases and the test positivity rate, O’rourke said the numbers were trending downward. Last week, countywide numbers showed Boulder was close to 400 positive cases per 100,000 in the population. As of this morning, O’rourke said that number was 265 positive cases per 100,000 residents.
“That’s really great progress, but it’s still too high,” O’rourke said. “We need to go further to reduce our number of cases.”
Trina Ruhland of the Boulder County Attorney’s Office said local officials are developing a metric similar to the dial the state uses so they can determine when it’s best to gradually lift restrictions. In regards to the more than 35 properties under stay-at-home orders, Ruhland said her office was not aware of any violators and was in talks about lifting or modifying restrictions that forbid residents in county-identified properties from leaving their homes unless seeking medical care, receiving COVID-19 testing or getting food through contactless delivery.
Jeff Zayach, executive director of Boulder County Public Health, said one metric officials will be looking at to determine when and how to lift restrictions is the number of positive COVID19 cases among 18-to-22year-olds — and those numbers have been decreasing.
O’rourke said officials also will be monitoring the number of violations of public health orders, including hosting big gatherings.
“If we start seeing those type of behaviors, that means we’re probably going to have challenges ahead,” O’rourke said.