Colorado deaths linked to the new coronavirus hit 33 on Friday, including a man in his 40s from Eagle County.
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The Eagle County man is the youngest person in the state to die from the disease yet, shattering the notion among some that younger Coloradans are immune to serious complications from the disease. He was a father of three.
Public health officials have been warning for weeks that COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, is indiscriminate, though older people tend to be at greatest risk of becoming critically ill or dying.
Eagle County has been one of the parts of the state hardest hit by the outbreak. There are at least 170 people with confirmed cases of coronavirus. Only Denver County, with 312 cases, has more.
Further details on the Eagle County death were not released.
The new deaths Friday also include two each in Weld and Jefferson counties.
There was also a new death reported in Pitkin County. According to The Aspen Times, the decedent was a 55-year-old man who was found dead during a welfare check.
The number of deaths linked to COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, by county is as follows:
- El Paso County – 7
- Weld County – 6
- Jefferson County – 5
- Denver – 3
- Eagle County – 2
- Pitkin County – 2
- Teller County – 1
- Larimer County – 1
- Gunnison County – 1
- Crowley County – 1
- Chaffee County – 1
- Boulder County – 1
- Arapahoe County – 1
- Pueblo County – 1
There are more than 1,700 confirmed cases of the virus in Colorado. Nearly 250 people are hospitalized.
In all, 11,676 people have been tested, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
Air Force Academy cadet, prisons employees test positive
The Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs announced Friday night that one of its cadets has tested positive for the virus.
“The individual is in isolation here in accordance with the Academy’s COVID plan,” the school said in a news release. “The cadet was staying in a single-occupancy room in the cadet dorms and taking classes online as part of the Academy’s social distancing directive. The cadet does not have any known underlying health conditions and is not considered high-risk for serious complications.”
Th Academy says staff and cadets who may have come in close contact with the cadet have been identified and are being monitored.
Meanwhile, the Colorado Department of Corrections says that two of its employees have tested positive for coronavirus.
One of them works at the Sterling Correctional Facility — a prison in northeast Colorado — but has not been inside the facility for several days. The other staff member works at the Denver Reception and Diagnostic Center but, the DOC says, has not been in the facility for over a week.
“At this time the department is currently working with the CDOC medical team and conducting a detailed contact investigation tracking any contact that the staff members had, and will be working to quarantine people as necessary,” the agency said in a news release. “The department will collaborate with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and local health departments and will also take appropriate cleaning and disinfecting steps. The Sterling Correctional Facility and DRDC will be modifying operations as a preventative measure at this time.”
Law enforcement and criminal justice advocates have been especially wary of an outbreak in Colorado’s jails or prisons. Sheriff’s deputies in El Paso and Arapahoe counties have also tested positive for the virus.
No Colorado prison inmates have tested positive for COVID-19.
Staff writer Jason Blevins contributed to this report.