Boulder County Public Health officials said the county was on track to drop to the less restrictive Level Blue under the county’s new 30-day coronavirus dial, but the possible change wouldn’t be announced until Friday.
The state’s COVID-19 dial expired Thursday. Meanwhile, the state reported seven new county COVID-19 outbreaks this week.
Angela Simental, Boulder County Public Health spokesperson, said the decision to move to Level Blue hinges on an assessment of Thursday data. Simental said to get to Level Blue, current case incidences must not exceed 300 cases per 100,000 residents and positivity rates must not exceed 7.5% for the level change to occur. Simental said if those metrics are exceeded, the county would remain in Level Yellow.
“The current data so far shows it is highly likely we will move into a modified Level Blue since positivity rate is at 4.8% and hospitalizations have been decreasing for 8 days,” Simental wrote in an email. “The decision of whether the county will move to a modified Level Blue will be announced (Friday) based on data provided … April 15.”
There have been 149.8 new cases per 100,000 people in the past seven days, Boulder County Public Health data showed. The county also reported Thursday that there were 81 new coronavirus cases, but no new deaths. The number of new cases brings the county’s total case number to 21,912. The death toll remained at 250 people. There were 25 people in Boulder County’s hospitals because of COVID-19 — a rise from Wednesday’s hospitalizations, which showed 21 people in the hospital. No COVID-19 patients were discharged Thursday. The total number of residents hospitalized has been 755.
If the county does proceed with the move to Level Blue, it will allow indoor seated events and all outdoor events to operate with 6 feet of distancing. Under Level Blue, restaurants can have 100% indoor capacity, but must maintain 6-foot distancing, as opposed to only 50% capacity under Level Yellow. The last on-premise call will be 2 a.m. instead of 1 a.m.
Simental added that one framework modification is that a business or organizers hosting any gathering that exceeds 10 people and up to 500 attendees must contact Boulder County Public Health at least 14 days in advance to submit a plan to the county at Covidbiz@bouldercounty.org.
Masks will still be required to be worn in indoor public settings. An outline of what the county’s restrictions would look like at each level can be viewed at: bit.ly/3afr4q2.
Statewide, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment reported that there have been 485,318 cases and 26,661 people hospitalized. There have been 6,319 deaths because of COVID-19. Of the state’s more than 5.7 million people, there have been 2,817,222 people tested.
Seven new Boulder County outbreaks
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment released its weekly outbreak report Wednesday. The state showed new outbreaks at Best Western Plus Boulder Inn; two Boulder Housing Coalition houses: Masala Co-Operative and Ostara Co-Operative; Complete Releaf Dispensary in Lafayette; CrossFit Cielo, a gym in Superior; Fairview High School in Boulder and Longmont Moose Lodge.
The outbreak at Best Western Plus Boulder Inn was reported April 9 to public health, the state report said. The report showed there were five total staff cases. Best Western Plus Boulder Inn didn’t respond to request for comment before publication deadline Thursday.
The state report shows four staff cases at Complete Releaf Dispensary. The outbreak was reported April 9 to public health. When reached by phone Thursday afternoon, a person at the dispensary said that they didn’t wish to comment further about the situation.
CrossFit Cielo’s outbreak was reported April 7 to public health. The state report showed one staff case and three attendee cases. The gym didn’t respond to request for comment by publication deadline.
The outbreak at Fairview High School was reported April 8 to public health. The state report showed two attendee cases.
Boulder Valley School District noted that state outbreak data is a repeat of what already has been reported in the Daily Camera.
The district also released a statement that said: “The Boulder Valley School District employs the same, effective measures whenever we have a probable or confirmed case of COVID-19, regardless of whether it meets the state’s definition for outbreak (two positive cases in a cohort). The result speaks for itself. Data shows that because of these measures and the other health precautions our students and staff employ every day, transmission of COVID-19 is exceptionally rare in school districts, including the Boulder Valley School District.”
Longmont Moose Lodge’s outbreak was reported Monday, the state report showed. There were five attendee cases, according to the state.
Glenn Reigle, secretary of the corporation, said the Longmont Moose Lodge was working with the health department for guidance on the situation.
“We’re still (doing) the same things that we’ve done: the staff wears masks and practices social distancing,” Reigle said. “We cleaned. We are doing what we need to keep our employees and members safe.”
The outbreak at Masala Co-Operative was reported April 6 to public health, the state report showed. There were six total resident cases reported.
Lincoln Miller, Boulder Housing Coalition executive director, said the Masala Co-Operative has not had any new cases or symptoms reported in more than two weeks.
The outbreak at the Ostara Co-Operative was reported to public health Wednesday. The state report shows two resident cases.
For both houses, Miller said that the Boulder Housing Coalition has been working with Boulder County Public Health officials for guidance.
“(We’re) taking it very seriously,” Miller said.
Miller added that residents who have been quarantined because of the situation have been able to access help with their rent.
The state report shows 28 active outbreaks in Boulder County.
Three outbreaks were also reported to be resolved.
- Arapahoe Roofing, a Louisville contractor, resolved its outbreak on Tuesday.
- Green Tree Medicinals, a Longmont dispensary, resolved its outbreak on Monday.
- Hearing HealthCare Centers Longmont office resolved its outbreak on Saturday.
School cases
The University of Colorado Boulder reported 22 positive test results discovered during Wednesday testing out of 95 diagnostic tests and 1,280 monitoring tests. There were 16 on-campus isolation spaces in use, which is 3% of the campus’ available isolation space. Since Jan. 4, there have been 684 positive results; 10,120 diagnostic tests and 89,362 monitoring tests.
The Boulder Valley School District reported 40 active cases and 820 quarantines among 811 students and nine staff.
In the St. Vrain Valley School District there are 71 active cases among 65 students and six staff, according to the district’s online dashboard. Throughout the school year, there have been 1,154 cases out of 901 students and 253 staff.
Vaccines administered in Boulder County
- 66,786 residents received a partial dose (includes Moderna and Pfizer vaccines only)
- 87,023 residents received a full course of the vaccine (includes the Johnson & Johnson 1 dose shot)
- 153,809 people who have received at least one COVID-19 dose
*Vaccine data is updated by Boulder County Public Health on Mondays and Thursdays
Boulder Valley School District active cases, quarantines
BVSD elementary schools
- Alicia Sanchez: 1 active case; 19 students quarantined
- Bear Creek: 1 active case; 22 students quarantined
- Columbine: 1 active case; 17 students quarantined
- Creekside: 2 active cases; 50 students quarantined
- Crest View: 1 active case; 26 students quarantined
- Flatirons: 2 active cases; 42 students quarantined
- Kohl: 1 active case; 20 students quarantined
- Lafayette: 2 active cases; 50 students quarantined
- Louisville: 1 active case; 27 students quarantined
- Nederland: 2 active cases; 31 students and 2 staff quarantined
- University Hill: 1 active case; 58 students quarantined
- Whittier: 1 active case; 17 students quarantined
BVSD middle schools
- Angevine: 3 active cases; 36 students and 1 staff quarantined
- Centennial: 1 active case; 3 students quarantined
- Louisville: 1 active case; 16 students quarantined
BVSD high schools
- Boulder: 4 active cases; 127 students and 1 staff quarantined
- Broomfield: 2 active cases; 11 students quarantined
- Fairview: 1 active case; 32 students quarantined
- Monarch: 2 active cases; 26 students quarantined
Other
- Boulder TEC/Broomfield High: 1 active case; 1 student quarantined
- Community Montessori: 1 active case; 28 students and 1 staff quarantined
- Manhattan: 2 active cases; 32 students quarantined
- Mapleton Early Childhood Center: 1 active case; 12 students and 3 staff quarantined
- Meadowlark: 1 active case; 24 students quarantined
- Monarch PK8: 3 active cases; 66 students and 1 staff quarantined
- Peak to Peak: 2 active case; 56 students quarantined
St. Vrain Valley School District active cases
SVVSD elementary schools
- Alpine: 1 student case
- Black Rock: 3 student cases and 1 staff case
- Centennial: 1 student case
- Central: 1 student case
- Erie: 1 student case
- Fall River: 4 student cases
- Hygiene: 1 student case
- Longmont Estates: 1 student case
- Niwot: 1 student case
SVVSD middle schools
- Altona: 3 student cases
- Coal Ridge: 2 student cases
- Erie: 4 student cases and 1 staff case
- Longs Peak: 1 student case
- Westview: 1 student case
SVVSD high schools
- Erie: 8 student cases
- Frederick: 1 student case
- Longmont: 2 student cases
- Mead: 4 student cases
- Niwot: 5 student cases
- Silver Creek: 5 student cases
- Skyline: 8 student cases
Other
- LaunchED Virtual Academy: 2 student cases
- Soaring Heights PK-8: 3 student cases
- Thunder Valley PK-8: 2 student cases
- Timberline PK-8: 1 staff case
- Multiple Schools: 1 staff case
- Central Administration: 2 staff cases
