County: 136 cases since Tuesday
After not updating Wednesday, Boulder County’s coronavirus dashboard shows 136 new cases, and the University of Colorado Boulder reported nine cases.
Boulder County sits at 5,680 cases and the death toll remains at 85. There have been 259 hospitalizations — 62 of which are current — and there are 257 disease investigations in progress.
The 136 new cases account for the past two days. A lab uploaded all negative test results instead of all positive test results Wednesday, Boulder County Public Health spokesperson Chana Goussetis said Wednesday, forcing staff to sort through the tests.
In a Thursday morning community briefing, Boulder County Public Health Executive Director Jeff Zayach said the county is
“creeping toward” Safer at Home Level 3, which is more restrictive in terms of social gathering sizes and capacity for restaurants, gyms, retail and other businesses.
“We will have some time to correct this,” Zayach said. “We really need ever ybody to be especially diligent right now as we are at risk of moving to Level 3. Individual responsibilities right now have really significant impacts on our entire community.”
Thursday’s briefing focused on mental health, and those who spoke acknowledged that while
many are experiencing “pandemic fatigue,” it’s important to stay vigilant and continue social distancing, wearing a mask, washing hands and following other health guidelines.
“We are getting COVID fatigue. We can’t give up hope. We are going to get through this, but we still have to be diligent for more months until we get to a place where we have a vaccine that’s more widely available for our community,” Zayach said.
State data shows Boulder County’s two-week cumulative incidence — the number of cases per 100,000 in the past 14 days — is 220.4.
Zayach said in the briefing that the county has an average positivity rate of 4.6.
“This is not good news for us,” Zayach said of the metrics in addition to the number of hospitalizations. “We’re climbing in cases, and it’s happening across most age groups.”
Zayach noted in the meeting that the cold weather approaching brings additional challenges as more people are forced to be indoors, coupled with the holidays.
Data updated Thursday shows 97,380 county residents have been tested for the virus, with the five-day average percent of positive tests at 5.1. The five-day average of new daily cases is 46, data shows. One week ago, the five-day average was 46.6.
CU Boulder’s nine reported cases returned from 227 diagnostic tests completed Wednesday, the university’s dashboard shows. There are five isolation spaces in use — or .9%.
Since Aug. 24, 1,154 tests have returned from 6,699 on-campus diagnostic tests. There were 808 monitoring tests completed Wednesday, and there have been 44,201 monitoring tests performed since Aug. 24.
The St. Vrain Valley School District’s coronavirus dashboard shows 108 cumulative cases, with 36 active cases.
The dashboard lists the following active cases among students: two at Alpine Elementar y, one at Coal Ridge Middle, four at Frederick High, two at Launched Virtual Academy, one at Mead High, one at Niwot High, one at
Northridge Elementary, one at Odle Columbine High, one at Rocky Mountain Elementar y, two at Silver Creek High, three at Skyline High, two at Sunset Middle, four at Thunder Valley PK-8 and three at Trail Ridge Middle.
Among staff, the following cases are active: one in the Career Development Center, one at Longmont High, one at Mead High, two at Soaring Heights PK-8, one at Sunset Middle and two at Central Administration.
Boulder Valley School District’s coronavirus dashboard shows 16 active cases, six cases of symptomatic individuals pending test results and five probable cases.
The dashboard lists the following active cases: two at Crest View Elementary, four at Eisenhower Elementar y, one at Fireside Elementar y, one at Foothill Elementar y, two at Gold Hill Elementar y, one at Broomfield Heights Middle, one at Southern Hills Middle and four at Boulder High.
The following cases are symptomatic: one at Douglass Elementar y, one at Foothill Elementar y, one at High Peaks Elementar y, one at Nederland Elementar y, one at Pioneer Elementary and one at Ryan Elementar y. The following are considered probable: two at Columbine Elementar y, one at Douglass Elementar y, one at Broomfield Heights Middle and one at Broomfield High.
Bixby School responds to outbreak
An outbreak was determined at Bixby School on Monday, according to data updated Wednesday from Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. Data shows one staff member and one attendee tested positive.
Head of Bixby School Nina Lopez said Thursday that the outbreak was within a single cohort, and no additional students or staff have tested positive. The first case was reported Oct. 14 and the cohort quarantined for 14 days, she said. The two individuals have since recovered.
“Bixby school is committed to doing all we can to provide a safe environment for our students and staff and has taken a multilayered approach to mitigating the risk of disease spread,” Lopez said.
Lopez said Boulder County Public Health told school officials they could not determine whether the virus was transmitted through the classroom.
Data updated Thursday shows that, of the county’s cases, 3,076 have been reported in Boulder, and 1,382 have been reported in Longmont. There have been 360 cases in Lafayette, 225 in Louisville, 89 in Superior, 97 in Erie, 12 in L yons, six in Nederland, and 345 in unincorporated Boulder County. Cases have been confirmed in seven people experiencing homelessness.
The rate of infection for Boulder residents is 2,889.5 per 100,000 people, data shows. In Longmont, the rate of infection is 1,439.7 per 100,000. In Lafayette, the rate is 1,243.5; in Louisville, the rate is 1,062.2; in L yons, the rate is 580.8; in Erie, the rate is 862.1; in Superior, the rate is 678.4; in Nederland, the rate is 386.6; and in unincorporated Boulder County, the rate is 776.2 per 100,000.
Statewide, there have been 102,014 positive or probable cases. There have been 2,268 deaths among the cases, and of those, there have been 2,095 deaths because of the coronavirus. There have been 8,943 people hospitalized. Of Colorado’s roughly 5.7 million population, 1,196,302 people have been tested for the virus.