Colorado’s latest surge of coronavirus cases appears to have stabilized as a statewide mask mandate and limitations on serving alcohol take hold, state health leaders said Friday. Jill Hunsaker Ryan, the head of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, said the latest data appear to show that the reproduction value for the virus […]
Colorado School of Public Health
Posted inCOVID, Health, News
10 charts that show why the coronavirus pandemic may be about to get a lot worse in Colorado
Back in April, the team of university researchers creating projections for the course of the coronavirus pandemic in Colorado mapped out some scenarios. In the most optimistic, Coloradans would maintain 65% social distancing through the summer — that is, about 65% fewer social interactions than normal. If that happened, the scientists concluded, the toughest days […]
Posted inCOVID, News, Politics and Government
As coronavirus cases rise, Colorado officials say contact-tracing efforts are keeping up, so far
When reports of coronavirus outbreaks tied to parties on Boulder’s University Hill first began filtering into Carol Helwig’s office at Boulder County Public Health, she and the rest of the staff were faced with a disease-tracking nightmare. Dozens of young people had attended the gatherings. Many didn’t know one another. And, when the parties stopped, […]
Posted inColoradans, COVID, Health, News, Politics and Government, Technology
For diabetes patients, new health threats and cost concerns surface during coronavirus
Samantha Almeida was working at a furniture store the summer before her junior year at Denver’s Thomas Jefferson High School, when her bosses started noticing signs that Samantha might have diabetes before she did. Almeida would ask for extra bathroom breaks from her cashier’s station because she was drinking so much water. She seemed tired […]
Posted inCOVID, Health, News
Coloradans are moving around at nearly pre-pandemic levels. Will a second coronavirus wave follow?
In Larimer County, as June barrels into July and Colorado nears the end of its fourth month mired in the coronavirus pandemic, Colorado State University professor Jude Bayham has noticed a trend: There are a lot more people visiting restaurants than there were in April and May. This observation comes not so much from his […]
Posted inCOVID, Health, News, Politics and Government
Before protests brought thousands together, data pointed to a possible coronavirus resurgence in Colorado
As the protests over the death of George Floyd brought thousands of Coloradans together to demonstrate against racism and police violence, the novel coronavirus was already showing signs of potentially heading toward a resurgence, new data from a Colorado university modeling team revealed Monday. While hospitalizations from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, continue […]
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Hospitals could be overwhelmed if older Coloradans don’t reduce their social interactions by more than half
The coronavirus could peak beyond hospital capacity in Colorado in September unless older adults reduce social interactions by far more than normal for months to come, according to new modeling scenarios released Tuesday. Colorado will need more intensive-care beds than exist in this state around Aug. 15 — right as school starts — unless people […]
Posted inCOVID, Education, Health, News
From the classroom to the coronavirus front lines, Colorado health students get a pandemic trial by fire
When the first documented infections of the coronavirus appeared in Colorado in early March, Ann Shen, an epidemiologist at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, soon began to feel very alone. Shen tracks and investigates outbreaks of foodborne illness — like salmonella or shigellosis. But her team of about five epidemiologists dwindled as […]
Posted inCOVID, Health, News, Politics and Government
Why the end of Colorado’s stay-at-home order isn’t the end of you being stuck at home
Welcome to the last days of the state’s stay-at-home order, Colorado. Get ready to stay home for a lot longer. When Gov. Jared Polis announced on Monday that he will allow his stay-at-home order to expire on April 26, he talked about the state entering into a new phase in its work to contain the […]
Posted inCOVID, Health, News, Politics and Government
To contain the coronavirus, Colorado needs an army of contact-tracers. This is how it will work.
In 2016, a case of measles popped up in the Denver metro area — just one case. Health officials across five different organizations jumped on it, sending out workers to learn more about the patient and where he had been. Then they reached out to all the people who had interacted with him and figured […]