Boulder County’s total for people testing positive with the novel coronavirus jumped to 13 Wednesday, and new cases included a University of Colorado Boulder student who had attended raucous St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in the University Hill neighborhood over the weekend.
“It’s a person in their 20s. It’s a CU student,” said Boulder County Public Health department spokeswoman Chana Gousettis. “Our staff just knows they went to the parties this weekend.”
No other details were provided about the other new case.
Boulder police had their hands full over the weekend dealing with a number of large parties in the Hill area, attended by young people who had seemingly not heard, or had chosen to ignore, recommendations from local and state health officials to adhere to social distancing, to stem the rise of COVID-19 cases, which on Tuesday reached community spread status, meaning that cases had been detected among those who had not traveled.
Regardless of the current case count, people should assume that others likely have the illness because there is evidence of community spread in Boulder County, and should employ the recommended social distancing and hygiene practices.
According to Boulder Police Sgt. Tom Dowd, although this past St. Patrick’s Day weekend wasn’t the busiest he and his colleagues had seen, the occasion still saw many coming out to celebrate together, with police breaking up multiple parties of 100 or more people.
Dowd added that the department received around 20 noise or party complaints over the weekend, and issued at least four nuisance party violations. A nuisance party violation can involve possessing alcohol outside of a party in a public area, urinating in public or underage drinking.
CU Boulder in-person classes were canceled on Friday, and access to the campus was heavily restricted Monday.
Goussetis said Wednesday, “Statewide testing capabilities are not where they need to be. We’re hearing from the state that they are working on that diligently and more private labs are becoming online to help with the shared quantity. My understanding is the issue was a supply shortage of the swabs and the viral medium” needed for the test kits.
The city of Boulder late Tuesday tightened its restrictions on social gatherings, restricting the size of events or gatherings in publicly owned places to 10 people or fewer in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
The Colorado Department of Public Health advises that the most common symptoms of COVID-19 are fever, cough, and shortness of breath. Those who have been exposed to someone with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 or live in an area with widespread community transmission and are experiencing any of those symptoms may also have it.
Anyone with a condition that might increase the risk of viral infection are instructed by CDPHE to contact their primary health care provider’s office and ask whether an evaluation is recommended.
Those who have tested positive or believe they have the coronavirus should stay at home, except to get medical care.
The state as of 4:30 p.m. Wednesday had recorded 216 cases in 20 counties, with two fatalities and 26 hospitalizations, according to Colorado health officials.
Actions recommended as a standard practice during the emergency include cleaning one’s hands often; avoiding touching one’s eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands; and covering all coughs and sneezes. People should also avoid sharing personal household items, and should clean surfaces every day.
This content was originally published here.
