Saturday marks six months of the coronavirus pandemic in Colorado, half a year since Gov. Jared Polis announced the first two confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the state. That’s six months of closings and reopenings and, in some cases, re-closings. Six months of social distancing. Six months of mask wearing and protests against mandatory mask […]
epidemiology
Posted inCOVID, Health, News
Colorado’s coronavirus cases are back under control, but could Labor Day and school reopenings cause a new spike?
Colorado coronavirus cases have tapered off again after a worrying leap in July, so much so that the state’s top epidemiologist on Wednesday expressed a rare bit of cheer amid what has otherwise been six months of cautious watchfulness. “We’re in a good place currently,” said Dr. Rachel Herlihy, the state epidemiologist. Social distancing is […]
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, […]
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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 […]
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
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 […]
Posted inBusiness, Coloradans, COVID, Health, News, Politics and Government
San Miguel County suspends, then recommits to its universal coronavirus testing experiment over 3-day span
San Miguel County on Thursday restated its commitment to a first-of-its-kind partnership with a company providing free COVID-19 testing to anyone who lives in Telluride or the surrounding area, reversing an announcement earlier in the week that health officials were suspending the project. The county on Tuesday said in a now-deleted news release that it […]