Tom Gonzales, public health director for Larimer County, briefed county commissioners Tuesday morning on the letter the county received from the Colorado health department, which said that the county could lose its variance if its COVID-19 cases continue to increase.
The county submitted a mitigation plan on Monday to demonstrate how it will get cases back down. The county needs to keep large gatherings down and increase its contact tracing and education efforts, he said.
The number of new cases per 24-hour period is a main point of concern, Gonzales said. Having more than 25 cases in a 24-hour period is an early warning indicator, and over the last two weeks the county had four days with more than 25 new cases and 10 days with more than 15 cases.
Hospitalizations remain low with 13 patients currently hospitalized for COVID-19 in the county, which is a good sign, he said. Part of the reason hospitalization is low is because there are now more young people getting sick, who are less likely to need to be hospitalized.
Despite the warning letter, the county is still doing well overall, Gonzales said. He received a phone call last week from Gov. Jared Polis, who congratulated him on how well the county has been doing on combating COVID-19.
“He called me to tell me that we’re doing a great job in Larimer County and he appreciates all our efforts,” Gonzales said.
Commissioner Steve Johnson expressed concern about the number of positive cases being used as a negative indicator, saying he felt like it created a perverse incentive to test fewer people.
“I’m hoping the state is not going to penalize us because we’re doing the right thing,” he said.
Gonzales said the state health department understands that the county is doing well but just wants it to stay on track.
“We’re doing a fantastic job, we’ve just got to be cognizant on these large gatherings,” he said.
Large gatherings are especially concerning because the county doesn’t want infections among young people to spill over into people in long-term care facilities or other vulnerable populations, which could be a serious problem, he said.
Johnson also suggested the idea of creating a way to thank local businesses in recognition of the fact that most businesses are doing a good job of enforcing public health regulations.
“Most of the businesses I go to are doing an extremely good job of following the guidance and the guidelines,” he said.
Gonzales agreed that could be a good idea, and added that the majority of cases have not come from restaurants or businesses.
The county has been analyzing COVID-19 data by ethnicity, which shows that Hispanic people make up a disproportionate number of COVID-19 patients in the county. Hispanic/Latino people are 22.2% of the county’s cases but only 11% of the population.
Dr. Jared Olson, the county’s population epidemiologist, joined the meeting by phone to talk about the data. Olson said he believes the disparity may be driven by the fact that Latinos make up a larger proportion of essential workers, who are more vulnerable to contracting the disease.
The county is working on ways to decrease the disparity and is hiring a bilingual employee to do outreach to the Hispanic community.
The county is also working with the local school districts as they finalize their plans for the upcoming school year.
“Whatever capacity our schools open up to, it’s going to be very different,” he said.
"hear" - Google News
July 22, 2020 at 07:42AM
https://ift.tt/3hgX1PQ
Commissioners hear on Larimer County efforts at COVID-19 mitigation - Loveland Reporter-Herald
"hear" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2KTiH6k
https://ift.tt/2Wh3f9n
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Commissioners hear on Larimer County efforts at COVID-19 mitigation - Loveland Reporter-Herald"
Post a Comment