This story was originally published on March 5 and will be updated daily. For earlier updates during the month of March, visit this page.
April 11, 4:05 p.m. update:
Here are some of the latest numbers on COVID-19 in Colorado from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. According to CDPHE, this summary only includes data through April 10 and does not reflect cases since then.
*According to CDPHE: “Positive cases include people who tested positive, as well as cases where epidemiological investigation has determined that there is a high likelihood that an untested individual has COVID-19 due to their symptoms and close contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19.”
**The total number of people tested may not include all negative results.
April 11, 12:40 p.m update:
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment is investigating an outbreak of COVID-19 at the Juniper Village nursing home in Aurora, after confirming on Saturday that 33 out of 46 residents tested positive for the coronavirus.
Additionally, 16 out of 25 staff members tested positive for the virus and the facility reported eight deaths —five confirmed to be caused by COVID-19 and three assumed by the coroner to be caused by the disease.
According to a CDPHE press release, “the investigation at Juniper Village began on March 27 when epidemiologists from Tri-County Health Department notified CDPHE that their local investigations of positive COVID-19 cases included several health care workers from the facility.”
CDPHE and the Tri-County Health Department have virtually assessed the facility’s infection prevention, use of personal protective equipment and staffing practices and made recommendations to the staff, the release said.
CDPHE officials visited Juniper Village on April 2 after receiving a complaint regarding the facility’s infection prevention practices, according to CDPHE. CDPHE is investigating the outbreak, the release said, which could take several months to complete.
“We are distressed by the outbreak of COVID-19 at the Juniper Village and the tragic loss of life and extend our deepest sympathy to the families who lost loved ones,” John Douglas, Jr., executive director of Tri-County Health Department, said. “COVID-19 can cause particularly severe illness in older adults, and we appreciate the support of CDPHE in strengthening steps to prevent further illness at this facility.”
Officials with CDPHE said the department will begin releasing more details on the confirmed outbreaks at residential care facilities on April 15. The information will be updated every Wednesday on the state’s COVID-19 and will be included in this update.
April 10, 5 p.m. update:
More than 60 journalism organizations (including The Colorado Independent) signed a to Gov. Jared Polis calling on him to improve access to COVID-19 information and transparency. Request from the letter:
In other news, a second worker at a Greeley meatpacking plant has died from COVID-19, a union representative confirmed on Friday, and both President Trump and Vice President Pence acknowledged the outbreak.
Kim Cordova, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers, that 42 union members who work at the JBS plant and eight non-union employees have tested positive for COVID-19 and are currently hospitalized.
JBS is the largest employer in Weld County, with more than 6,000 workers. The plant’s first death from COVID-19 came on Tuesday.
Gov. Polis spoke with Vice President Pence about the outbreak on Friday. Pence said he is working with Polis to coordinate testing resources for the plant at a White House press conference.
Pence said 14 people from the plant have been hospitalized and 200-300 people have been “impacted.”
President Trump, in the same press conference, was asked by a reporter if there is a governmental priority to direct testing to food processing plants. Trump referenced the outbreak at the JBS plant, but referred to it as the situation in Denver. The president said “we’ll be looking at that and we don’t want cases like that happening.”
“You’re asking that because of… what happened in Denver. Because in Denver, I’ve never seen it. I said, ‘What’s going on?’ We’re looking at this graph where everything is looking beautiful and it’s coming down, and then you’ve got this one spike. I said, ‘What happened to Denver?’ And many people, very quickly. And, by the way, they were on it, like, so fast, you wouldn’t believe it,” Trump said.
April 10, 2:30 p.m. update:
A coalition of community organizations and elected officials are calling on Gov. Jared Polis to suspend construction on I-70 near Globeville, Elyria and Swansea. These Latino neighborhoods have high rates of asthma.
The construction on I-70, and the dust it creates, has exacerbated the health issues for residents who live in the industrialized area. The letter comes after a Harvard study published this week found a “small increase in long-term exposure to PM2.5 leads to a large increase in COVID-19 death rate.” The state does not have COVID-19 data on race and ethnicity.
April 10, 1:30 p.m. update:
“I know it’s a little surreal,” Gov. Jared Polis told reporters on Friday outside the Colorado Convention Center, which is being converted into an alternative care site to help free up beds in Colorado’s hospitals if there is a surge on the health care system.
He expects to have several hundred beds open in the facility by April 18, and up to 2,000 beds by April 26. He doesn’t expect it to be full, but, he said, “I also don’t expect it will be completely empty.”
The state and the Army Corps of Engineers began construction on the convention center on Wednesday. The facility is divided into six care sections, with 10×10 drywall rooms, each with their own power and oxygen supply.
Peter Sturdivant, chief of construction for the Army Corps of Engineers’ Omaha District, said the hardest part about constructing the facility so far has been constructing oxygen lines for the rooms. The U.S. is low on oxygen tanks, he said, so the Army Corps of Engineers decided to run lines through the facility.
According to Sturdivant, the facility was financed 25% by Colorado and the rest by the Federal Emergency Management Administration.
Separately, The Colorado Independent received a response from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to a Colorado Open Records Act request seeking COVID-19 data broken down by race and ethnicity. There were no responsive records, officials said.
“If we get, you’ll get it,” Polis told reporters. “We have already requested additional information from the hospitals.”
He said he’s considering ordering hospitals to provide the information.
April 9, 8:55 p.m. update:
At the ICE detention center in Aurora, family members of detainees and activists called for the release of the facility’s detainees on Thursday.
Protesters formed a caravan of cars, honking and waving signs that read “free them all” and “COVID-19 is deadly: release them now.”
The caravan also looped around the Denver County Jail and Sen. Cory Gardner’s office because, activists said, Gardner continues to support ICE.
Ivan Martinez has been detained at the GEO facility for seven months. His wife, Hilda Martinez, said her children are scared that he will contract COVID-19 and die inside the facility. Her children want their father to return home, Martinez said.
“But really we’re all here together to liberate everyone who’s inside,” Martinez said. “Even if my husband is liberated, I will continue to fight for the release of everyone else.”
She said her husband tries to stay as far away from others as possible, but he suspects people inside the facility have the virus.
As of April 8, five employees of the GEO group who work at the facility have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, including one who had contact with detainees. No positive cases of the coronavirus among detainees have been reported by ICE or the GEO Group.
Democratic congressional representatives from Colorado — Jason Crow, Diana DeGette, Joe Neguse and Ed Perlmutter — sent asking the agency to release vulnerable detainees. Gov. Jared Polis called upon ICE to release detainees at the Aurora facility held on civil violations at a town hall on Tuesday.
April 9, 4:05 p.m. update:
Here are some of the latest numbers on COVID-19 in Colorado from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
6,202 cases
1,221 hospitalized
56 counties
31,180 people tested
226 deaths
54 outbreaks at residential and non-hospital health care facilities
The spike in cases and deaths is due to delays in reporting, health officials said.
April 9, 2:05 p.m. update:
Colorado continues to see thousands of unemployment claims filed per week, but last week saw a drop of about 14,000 claims from the previous week.
The reason for the decline in unemployment filings last week could be due to workers waiting on benefits from the coronavirus stimulus package to kick in, Ryan Gedney, senior economist with the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, said.
“It’s also possible that there remains a significant number of persons who are still being paid in some fashion for a short period, who have still not yet filed,” he said.
The claims from last week are still very high compared to the state’s average, Gedney said, and it’s important to look at the cumulative number of filings over time.
CDLE filed more than 46,000 initial unemployment claims with the federal government for the week of March 29 through April 4. The previous week saw about 60,000 initial claims filed to the U.S. Department of Labor from the state. In total, over the past three weeks, more than 127,000 initial claims were filed.
Here are Colorado’s unemployment filings for the past 20 years, including data from March.
About 10% of the national workforce, or 17 million workers, filed for unemployment over the past three weeks, according to the Department of Labor. In 18 months between 2007 and 2009, the Great Recession took out , according to Politico.
Independent contractors and gig workers who now qualify for unemployment benefits under the coronavirus stimulus bill, will need to wait until CDLE updates its systems, Cher Haavind, deputy executive director of CDLE, said. The department hopes to be able to file claims for independent contractors by next week, she said.
Once independent contractors can file for unemployment, they will be eligible to receive payments from the first week of February, if that was when they were impacted by the novel coronavirus.
Other provisions of theallow workers to collect $600 extra in benefits per week from the federal government and an extra 16 weeks of benefits — 42 weeks total. Those benefits may not be reaching people yet, said Jeff Fitzgerald, director of the division of unemployment insurance. But, payments will be paid retroactively from March 29 once the federal money rolls in, he said.
In normal circumstances, a person collecting unemployment benefits must be actively seeking employment. That requirement has been relaxed. Fitzgerald said the state recognizes the unique situation with stay-at-home orders and massive job loss. Applicants for unemployment still will need to register on the state’s job search site, .
CDLE released data showing the industries hit hardest by the pandemic and from which the most unemployment claims are coming. The industry data is delayed, so CDLE provided numbers from the week ending in March 21, the week Gov. Polis’s restaurant and bar shutdown took effect.
Here’s a breakdown of unemployment filings with CDLE by industry:
*** Other services include personal services like nail and beauty salons, barbers, etc
The primary driver of healthcare worker and social service claims is from the offices of dentists, chiropractors and daycare services, officials said.
In related news, Conor Cahill, a spokesperson for Gov. Jared Polis, responded to the Colorado Latino Forum’s request for greater transparency in the state’s economic recovery efforts in an email to The Colorado Independent. CLF’s demands for transparency include a full list of the members of the Governor’s Council on Economic Stabilization and Growth and recordings of the council’s meetings.
“The newly formed council is only two weeks in operation and is being assembled in the midst of a national pandemic. Over a hundred citizens have volunteered to serve. An initial public webpage has been built to support the public announcement of the Council’s formation and it allows for any citizen to submit recommendations for the Council. The Governor believes the Latino community will play a big part in Colorado’s economic bounce back which is one of the reasons he appointed Federico Pena as Chairman. Chairman Pena is actively working to fully equip the council with representation from community and civic leaders, nonprofits, unions, private sector leaders and bipartisan legislative representatives. Given the emergency nature of the Council’s formation, this process is ongoing. As the Council’s formation and operations become established, its official communications and findings will be published on its website,” Cahill wrote.
The full list of CLF’s demands can be found in this update under April 8.
April 9, 11:45 a.m. update:
State health officials said they expect to receive a shipment of 100 ventilators from the national stockpile in the next day or so.
President Donald Trump said in a tweet Wednesday he would be sending the ventilators to Colorado “immediately” at the request of Sen. Cory Gardner, who is up for re-election this fall. The announcement came after Gov. Jared Polis has pleaded for a week or more for as shipment of ventilators. The state wants up to 10,000 more than it currently has.
Democratic Rep. Diana DeGette said in a statement on Wednesday: “President Trump says we will get 100 as a courtesy to Senator Gardner. That means, because the president is playing politics with public health, we’re still 400 ventilators short from what we should have received. His mismanagement of this crisis is costing lives and livelihoods.”
April 8, 4:30 p.m. update:
The Department of Corrections (DOC) on Wednesday said an inmate at the Buena Vista Correctional Complex has tested positive for COVID-19, the first diagnosed case of the disease in the state’s prison system to be announced.
The inmate was transferred to the prison from the Denver City Jail on March 26, 2020 after having a community corrections sentence revoked, according to DOC.
Just one day prior, as part of an executive order from Gov. Jared Polis, DOC halted new intakes of inmates from county jails except in limited circumstances, which DOC says included community corrections regressions.
The new plan also called for quarantining new inmates for 14 days, some of whom will be quarantined in Cañon City’s Centennial South Correctional Facility, formerly known as CSP II, a mostly vacant high-security prison shuttered in 2012 and reopened in March.
This inmate was quarantined in the Buena Vista prison and did not enter the general population or go out into the facility, according to DOC. The inmate was quarantined with one cellmate, who will continue to be monitored by CDOC medical staff, DOC said.
“This situation is exactly why we implemented thorough medical evaluations and quarantine systems for any incoming inmates,” said Dean Williams, the director for DOC. “In this case, the quarantine process prevented this inmate from engaging with the general inmate population and has substantially reduced the risk of this virus being spread in the facility. The inmate is receiving the appropriate medical care and we will continue to take every possible precaution to protect our staff and inmate population.”
DOC said it’s not planning to release any additional information about the inmate because of HIPAA requirements.
Here are some of the latest numbers on COVID-19 in Colorado from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
5,655 cases*
1,162 hospitalized
54 counties
29,199 people tested**
193 deaths
44 outbreaks at residential and non-hospital health care facilities
*According to CDPHE: “Positive cases include people who tested positive, as well as cases where epidemiological investigation has determined that there is a high likelihood that an untested individual has COVID-19 due to their symptoms and close contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19.”
**The total number of people tested may not include all negative results.
April 8, 3:40 p.m update:
Colorado health officials said the state has secured two alternative care sites for people with COVID-19 and plans to secure three more sites by the end of the week.
Leases for The Colorado Convention Center in Denver, with a planned 2,000-bed capacity, and The Ranch, Larimer County Fairgrounds and Events Complex, in Loveland, with a planned 1,060-bed capacity, were finalized this week. The state is working with the Army Corps of Engineers on constructing the sites, which began on Tuesday in Denver, and is scheduled to begin on Thursday in Loveland, according to officials.
The sites will serve as “tier 3” alternative care shelters, not field hospitals, meaning patients who were admitted to hospitals for critical care and are in less-critical recovery will be transported to the sites.
Colorado has signed letters of intent with St. Anthony North in Westminster, St. Mary-Corwin Medical Center in Pueblo, and Western Slope Memory Care in Grand Junction, for use as alternative care sites. Officials say they are working to secure more sites.
According to a press release from the State Emergency Operations Center, The Colorado Convention Center will finish construction on April 27 and The Ranch will finish on April 29.
April 8, 3:00 p.m. update:
It’s unclear whether the state will have enough testing and monitoring capabilities needed to control the COVID-19 outbreak by April 26, the day Gov. Jared Polis has tentatively set as the end of his stay-at-home order. When asked by reporters during a news conference on Wednesday whether the state would have sufficient testing capacity to lift the order, Polis said more information will be coming.
“There’s a lot to what April 26 looks like,” he said. “We will have a presentation on that before April 26.”
He said this will include information on what size gathering will be permitted, how restaurants can begin to reopened, and the state’s mass testing capacity.
Medical professionals say adequate testing capacity is needed as governments ease social distancing restrictions in order to maintain control over the highly infectious disease.
Asked what benchmark he’s looking for before deciding whether to lift the stay-at-home order, Polis said the “biggest one is going to be how successful Coloradans are at staying at home.”
He said the state should start to see the effects of the state-at-home order later this week.
Polis is Jewish and observes Passover. He brought up last year’s Passover at the governor’s mansion, which had more than 150 people in attendance, he said. This year the governor will be observing the holiday virtually with family, he said.
Polis asked churches to maintain social distancing and cut down on the numbers of people who gather for video or in-person services during the Easter and Passover holidays this week. Religious institutions are still allowed to meet for services.
Amanda Henderson, executive director of the Colorado Interfaith Alliance, encouraged members of all faiths to practice distancing during their holiday observances.
“The way that we can love our neighbors is to stay home and stop the spread of COVID-19,” Henderson said.
Speaking to the state’s efforts to obtain more medical equipment, Polis said he is in touch with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Vice President Mike Pence to secure more personal protective equipment and ventilators. The state continues to work to obtain medical supplies on the private market, from China and others, Polis said, and Colorado State University is testing the supplies that come in.
Colorado has about 500 more ventilators than when the pandemic started, Polis said. A number still far short of the 9,000 to 10,000 additional ventilators Polis previously said the state needs to handle a surge in infections.
April 8, 10:50 a.m update:
The Colorado Latino Forum is urging Gov. Jared Polis to make Colorado’s economic response to the novel coronavirus pandemic more transparent.
In a letter submitted to Polis on Tuesday, CLF members made a list of 11 demands and questions for the Governor’s Council on Economic Stabilization and Growth, including greater community input and a public record of meetings and actions. According to the letter, CLF members reached out to the council without response.
“The community plays a vital role in vetting any policy recommendations early in the process,” Xochi Gaytan, co-chair of CLF, said in a press release. “The people must be at the table.”
The Governor’s Council on Economic Stabilization on March 20 to address the economic impact of the novel coronavirus. It is composed of eight committees. Former Denver Mayor and U.S. Transportation Secretary Federico Peña chairs the council, with representatives from the public and private sectors. Westword created a of the council members, but a full list is currently not available through the council’s section on the Office of Economic Development and International Trade’s website. One of CLF’s demands is for the state to release a full list of the members of the eight committees.
Here’s the list of CLF’s demands and questions:
The Colorado Independent is seeking a response from the governor’s office.
April 7, 8:25 p.m. update:
Gov. Jared Polis, alongside state health and economic officials, answered Coloradans questions about the state’s response to the novel coronavirus during a town hall on Tuesday.
Dr. Rachel Herlihy, the state’s epidemiologist, and Betsy Markey, executive director of the Colorado Office of Economic Development, answered health and economic questions respectively, while the governor spoke for the state government. Topics ranged from whether people should go out to get tested for the novel coronavirus to what gig workers should do. Kyle Clark of 9News moderated the discussion.
Here’s the full town hall. We’ve pulled out some highlights below.
Polis recommended that most people stay home if they feel COVID-19 symptoms. Nine out of ten people won’t need medical attention, he said, and people shouldn’t be rushing out to get tested, unknowingly spreading the disease.
Asked whether the state will have enough ventilators to treat patients during the infection surge, Polis said as long as Coloradans stay at home and are wearing masks when they go out, the state should have enough ventilators.
Modeling by public health officials has shown that 70-80% effective social distancing will drastically reduce deaths and ICU bed overload. When asked how effective Colorado’s social distancing measures have been, Herlihy said the state achieved about a 45% effective social distancing rate before the stay-at-home order. Officials will soon know the effects of the stay-at-home order on the effectiveness of social distancing, she said, and the state could be anywhere between 60-80% effective social distancing, currently.
Fielding a question about gig workers and independent contractors, Markey said gig workers can start applying for forgivable loans to cover their expenses on April 10. She said those workers should contact their bank or other lenders to start the process.
Polis, addressing a rent moratorium or freeze, said the state is not focused on evictions at this time and highlighted money that will be coming to Coloradans from the coronavirus stimulus package. He did not say whether he is considering a rent freeze or whether the state will step in once the eviction ban is lifted to prevent people from being forced out of their residences.
Answering a question about what the state is doing for the undocumented community, Polis said doctors will not ask for people’s proof of residency. He also said he asked the Department of Homeland Security to extend protections for those under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Act.
Polis also called on ICE to release detainees from the Aurora detention center who are being held for civil arrests.
When asked what challenges will TABOR will present to the state budget as we work to recover from this crisis?”
Polis: TABOR will not be consequential in this matter because of the devastating impact on the economy. The state is going to have budgetary cutbacks. They aren’t even going to be close to that limit level where there is a limitation on state spending. It could be a year or years before that becomes a relevant discussion. It’s not a relevant discussion when the state is well under that level, as we were during the Great Recession. The economic impact of the pandemic has been devastating.
April 7, 4:10 p.m update:
Here are some of the latest numbers on COVID-19 in Colorado from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
*According to CDPHE: “Positive cases include people who tested positive, as well as cases where epidemiological investigation has determined that there is a high likelihood that an untested individual has COVID-19 due to their symptoms and close contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19.”
**The total number of people tested may not include all negative results.
April 7, 1:15 p.m. update:
Dever Mayor Michael Hancock on Tuesday announced the city’s plan to open a new shelter site and further steps to help people experiencing homelessness during the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Hancock said the city secured the National Western Complex to use as an auxiliary shelter, which he hopes will open in the coming days. The complex can house 600 males, he said, and the city is working to secure another shelter site for women.
Denver also finalized a contract for 151 more hotel rooms to house people experiencing homelessness, Hancock said, and he will more than likely be filing the contract with city council next week.
On Monday, the mayor sent an to hotels requesting 3,300 rooms because of the city’s ongoing difficulty negotiating for rooms with hotels.
Hancock announced that Gov. Polis approved Denver’s request to deploy 250 guard members to bolster staffing in the city’s existing shelters, but, he said, the new shelter site will not be staffed by guardsmen. Instead, members and volunteers from the Denver Rescue Mission will be in charge of setting up and running the shelter, he said.
“The governor had to make his determination based on the statewide objectives with regards to the National Guard — they are going to be pulled in a lot of different directions and we recognize that… so we’re going to plan B in order to staff the auxiliary shelter,” Hancock said.
Brad Meuli, CEO of Denver Rescue Mission, told the press on Monday that the mission had to cut about half of its capacity to meet social distancing requirements. Other homeless advocates said volunteering is down and they have had to cut programs.
At the new shelter site, guests will have showers, three meals a day and screening for the novel coronavirus, Hancock said. The site will also have the ability to transport people to respite rooms offsite, if they test positive for the virus or are in need of isolation, for rest and recovery, he said.
Britta Fisher, chief housing officer with Denver’s Department of Housing Stability, said the size of the complex — 100,000 square feet — will provide enough space for social distancing and the staff of the Denver Rescue Mission will be helping to maintain that distance.
Hancock also said he will not overturn the city’s camping ban, which was ruled unconstitutional by a Denver county judge , but by the city as it appeals the decision.
“Our focus is really working to shelter those who are experiencing homelessness in our city safely and in decent facilities that are well staffed and connected with resources and services,” Hancock said.
In other Denver news, Matthew Mueller, executive director of Denver’s Office of Emergency Management, gave an update at Hancock’s press conference on Tuesday of the city’s efforts to convert the Colorado Convention Center to handle COVID-19 patients. The convention center will offload some of the burden on hospitals, he said, and the city anticipates it will open for care in a couple of weeks. City officials previously said the convention center will house more than 2,000 hospital beds.
April 6, 7 p.m. update:
Gov. Jared Polis on Monday extended his state-at-home order from April 11 to April 26.
“If there is any way to safely end it sooner, I will,” he said during a live address from the Governor’s Mansion in Denver. He added, “The data and science tell us this is our best chance, or only realistic chance, to avoid catastrophic loss of life.”
Much of his address was aimed at boosting morale as he urged Coloradans to stay home a little while longer.
“The spread of the virus is beginning to slow. This is a remarkable achievement by you. … You’re truly helping to turn the tide against this deadly virus.”
“The better job we do at staying in, the sooner we can get back out.”
April 6, 5:40 p.m. update:
Denver Mayor Michael Hancock on Monday extended the city’s stay-at-home order until April 30, while also extending the ban on public gatherings through the end of April.
Denver County has the highest number of confirmed positive cases of the novel coronavirus — 847 as of April 5 —in the state. As Denverite’s Esteban Hernandez reports, the city has issued 14 citations for violating the order, issued 1,796 warnings and made 6,090 contacts with businesses and residents about compliance.
April 6, 5:10 p.m. update:
Here are some of the latest numbers on COVID-19 in Colorado from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
*According to CDPHE: “Positive cases include people who tested positive, as well as cases where epidemiological investigation has determined that there is a high likelihood that an untested individual has COVID-19 due to their symptoms and close contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19.”
**The total number of people tested may not include all negative results.
April 6, 3 p.m. update:
The state has been working with the Colorado School of Public Health to model the COVID-19 outbreak. Here are some interesting numbers state health officials shared on Monday:
Addressing a growing concern for people experiencing homelessness and COVID-19, a group of Democratic state lawmakers, Denver city council members and owners of homeless shelters are calling on Gov. Jared Polis to create a shelter site for people experiencing homelessness in Denver.
In a sent on Saturday, the lawmakers urged Polis to create a shelter site, staffed with National Guard members, and to secure hotel and motel rooms for people experiencing homelessness. Other requests included prioritizing shelter staff when distributing personal protective equipment and providing greater testing capacity for the population experiencing homelessness.
“We are reaching the limit of what we as a city can do on our own” Denver City Councilwoman Robin Kniech, who signed onto the letter, said in a call with the press on Monday.
The challenge Denver faces right now, Kniech said, is that there are 1,000 people who pass through the same restroom in some of the shelters. Denver is the only place in the state where 200-300 people are sleeping in the same room, Kniech said.
Denver has secured about 110 hotel rooms on its own through contracts, far fewer than the city needs, according to advocates. The letter says hotel and motel managers have been unwilling to work with the city and urges the state to make more rooms available. The letter does not specify how the state should make those rooms available.
Some shelters have been forced to reduce the population they serve by about half to meet distancing guidelines, according to Brad Meuli, CEO of Denver Rescue Mission. As a result, The Homeless Leadership Council, which is composed of some of the largest homeless service providers in the metro Denver area, released a on March 31 calling for a separate shelter space to meet the need.
At least two people experiencing homelessness in Denver have for the coronavirus, according to state health officials. Advocates say the homeless population is at a unique risk for infection given people’s proximity to one another while in shelters and preexisting health conditions among the population.
Rep. Leslie Herod, a Democrat from Denver, a former board member of Urban Peak Youth Shelter, said on Monday that she has been speaking with hotel and motel owners who have been willing to negotiate for rooms. When asked if the state will need to commandeer rooms, she said she doesn’t believe that will be necessary. Councilwoman Kniech said the state might need to commandeer rooms if the situation becomes worse.
As for transportation to hotels and a possible new shelter, Kniech said the city already has the infrastructure to transport people from day to night shelters. And a new 24-hour shelter would take some of the burden off that system.
In other news, Democratic lawmakers and criminal justice groups are calling on Polis to suspend criminal and juvenile fees, fines, and costs.
According to the letter, the groups and people are calling on the governor to:
The letter includes over 20 organizations and individuals, including reps. Herod and Mike Weissman and sens. Pete Lee and Julie Gonzales, the Colorado Juvenile Defender Center, the Office of the State Public Defender, the Office of the Alternate Defense Counsel, ACLU of Colorado, and the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition.
In other criminal justice news, the Colorado Supreme Court denied a petition from defense attorneys seeking to free more inmates from jail in order to help manage the COVID-19 outbreak in jails. The attorneys were calling for a more streamlined response to the pandemic. The court denied the petition on April 3 without an explanation.
Maureen Cain, a public policy liaison for the Colorado State Public Defender’s Office, which helped file the petition, said public defenders will continue to file individual motions in each of the state’s 22 judicial districts. She said there will likely be more litigation due to the lack of coordination.
18th Judicial District Attorney George Brauchler celebrated the court’s denial of the petition.
“Those housed in county jails are not hotel guests or patrons of a cruise at sea. They are incarcerated because they have either committed a crime worthy of taking away their liberty, or they are accused of a serious crime and pose a significant risk to the community,” Brauchler said in a statement. “Neither of those facts is diminished by the existence of COVID 19. The community is not safer or healthier when we force those who pose the greatest risk to our safety back into our neighborhoods, while we are shut in at home.”
April 5, 5:45 p.m. update:
If you’re old and sick, you may not get a ventilator when supplies run short. If you’re a health care worker, your chances are much better.
Those are among the takeaways from the state’s new crisis standard of care guidelines adopted on Sunday in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. The guidelines are designed to make the distribution of scarce medical supplies more ethical, generally based on the idea of saving the most lives possible. The state currently does not have enough ventilators or ICU beds to serve as many patients it expects to be hospitalized due to the virus.
The decision framework is broken down into four separate tiers. The first tier is generally the likelihood of survival and how long the person is expected to live. The second tier aims to prioritize care for pediatric patients, health care workers and first responders. The third tier is considered a tie-breaker. If there are two patients, a firefighter and a nurse, for example, the person who is a sole caregiver or pregnant would be prioritized. The last tier is a “random allocation” of resources in the event there is still a tie between patients.
Health officials say the better people follow social distancing guidelines and the governor’s stay-at-home order, the fewer times these types of decisions will have to be made.
State health officials recommend everyone create a living will and share it with their loved ones. The will should outline the kind of care people want and don’t want.
April 5, 4:45 p.m. update:
Hang in there.
The coronavirus could peak in Colorado as late as November, state models show. And that might be a good thing. The longer it takes for the virus to peak in Colorado, the fewer people who will die from COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.
Some of the bleaker predictions — with no social distancing and an infection reproductive rate of 4 (meaning one person infects 4 people, who each then infect a total of 16 people, etc.) — place the peak of COVID-19 infections on May 7, with more than 33,000 deaths by June 1. Better and more likely predictions — with 60% effective social distancing and an infection reproductive rate of 3 — place the peak of infections at about 39,000 on Nov. 19, with 379 deaths by June 1 and more than 6,600 deaths by Jan. 1, 2021.
The estimates are based on models the state developed with the University of Colorado showing when the state might see the peak number of infections, ICU hospitalizations and cumulative deaths. The models take into account differing levels of social distancing (SD) and infection reproductive rates, or R0, pronounced “R naught.”
The goal of social distancing is to lower the R0, or the number of new people an infected person passes the virus on to. The models predict an R0 in Colorado of between 3 and 4, meaning one infected person will pass along the virus to three or four others.
Gov. Jared Polis first previewed the modeling data in a press conference on March 27, which can be found under that date in this update.
When the team created the models, based on data collected through March 24, Colorado’s R0 was above 3, according to CDPHE. It’s uncertain what the R0 value is currently, given new social distancing measures.
Here are both the tables. The first measures R0s of 3.5 and 4, from 0-80% social distancing. The second measures R0 of 3 and 4 with 0-60% social distancing.
Compare the models to some of the latest numbers from Sunday on COVID-19 in Colorado from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
*According to CDPHE: “Positive cases include people who tested positive, as well as cases where epidemiological investigation has determined that there is a high likelihood that an untested individual has COVID-19 due to their symptoms and close contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19.”
On Saturday, a member of the Colorado Unified Command Group working at the State Emergency Operations Center tested positive for COVID-19, state health officials say. The unnamed staff member then went through daily medical screenings and was asymptomatic until April 4, when symptoms started, health officials said. The staff member then contacted executive leadership and self-isolated pending testing arrangements, they said.
April 4, 7:00 p.m update:
Here are some of the latest numbers on COVID-19 in Colorado from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
4,565 cases*
875 hospitalized
54 counties
23,900 people tested
126 deaths
30 outbreaks at residential and non-hospital health care facilities
*According to CDPHE: “Positive cases include people who tested positive, as well as cases where epidemiological investigation has determined that there is a high likelihood that an untested individual has COVID-19 due to their symptoms and close contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19.”
April 4, 2:30 p.m. update:
State health officials say they’re staying the course on regulating planet-warming greenhouse gas and toxic emissions during the pandemic.
Officials with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment sent a letter to companies on Friday stating their plans to continue enforcement of air quality laws after the Trump EPA on March 26 said it was largely halting its enforcement of those laws.
“This unprecedented global pandemic poses challenges for everyone, but it cannot excuse exceedances of permitted limits or unreported violations of state laws,” said John Putnam, director of environmental programs at CDPHE, in a statement on Friday. “At a time when everyone in Colorado is rallying to fight the spread of a serious respiratory illness, it would be unacceptable for us to allow companies to emit more pollutants into our air and water.”
The announcement comes as Russia and Saudi Arabia compete for market share during the pandemic by flooding the market with oil, driving down prices at a time when demand has diminished. The price war is in Colorado. On Tuesday, Houston-based Noble, the second-largest oil and gas producer in Colorado, r. Denver-based Whiting Petroleum filed for bankruptcy on Wednesday. This came after Broomfield-based DMC Global Inc.
Due to the inability to conduct face-to-face meetings during the pandemic, the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, which oversees the industry in Colorado, has postponed drafting new rules aimed at protecting public health, safety, welfare, the environment and wildlife. Those rules include changing the agency’s mission and setting new wellbore integrity standards. The agency is required to create new rules after lawmakers in 2018 Senate Bill 181, which put in place a process to make the state’s oil and gas rules more stringent.
April 3, 5:00 p.m. update:
Here are some of the latest numbers on COVID-19 in Colorado from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
*According to CDPHE: “Positive cases include people who tested positive, as well as cases where epidemiological investigation has determined that there is a high likelihood that an untested individual has COVID-19 due to their symptoms and close contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19.”
April 3, 3:40 p.m. update:
RTD has temporarily suspended bus and train fares, the company announced Friday afternoon. The changes take effect Sunday. Find more information here.
The company is required by law to get at least 30% of its revenue from fares. Democrats hope to change that law this session.
For the safety of employees and passengers, RTD will temporarily suspend fares and institute rear-boarding on buses starting Sunday, April 5. https://t.co/VMuIZPfAlH pic.twitter.com/PfH4m6S0GM
— RTD (@RideRTD) April 3, 2020
April 3, 3:10 p.m. update:
Gov. Jared Polis on Friday urged all Coloradans to wear cloth face masks whenever they leave their homes.
The countries that have done the best with the coronavirus — like South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore — wear masks, Polis said. You can make them at home out of an old t-shirt or piece of fabric, he said. If you are a member of an essential industry, he said you should bring and wear a mask if your employer doesn’t already provide them.
“Show folks what you are doing to be clever and cool with facemasks,” Polis said.
#coloradomaskproject
Let’s wear masks, Colorado! Anything that covers your nose and mouth, and doesn’t get in the way of your breathing. pic.twitter.com/TKdWRK76Sb
— Jared Polis (@jaredpolis) April 3, 2020
The White House is its own guidance for Americans to wear cloth masks based on Centers for Disease Control recommendations soon, according to NBC News. Dr. Deborah Birx, The White House’s coronavirus response coordinator, told NBC News that masks don’t substitute for social distancing practices and people shouldn’t “get a false sense of security.”
Polis also addressed Colorado’s testing capacity for COVID-19, saying the state has the capacity to run 10,000 tests per day. But, right now, it’s performing 2,000 per day because there are not enough testing supplies, he said. The state is working to boost those supplies and expects to grow that capacity to 3,500 per day over the next two weeks, he said, and to 5,000 per day by May 1.
Colorado started distributing a third shipment of personal protective equipment (PPE), including N95 masks, from the National Strategic Stockpile on Friday. The first two shipments provided about two days worth of PPE for statewide medical operations, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. The third shipment more than doubled the amount of PPE from the first two. The state is still well short of the more than 1.5 million masks, millions of gloves and other equipment the governor said earlier this week that Colorado needs.
For additional help to businesses, Polis said the state is offering a one-time 30-day extension for sales tax, including local sales tax for businesses. Taxes owed April 20 don’t have to be paid until May 20, he said.
For homeowners, Polis announced that the state will be directing counties to extend property tax deadlines. So, property tax payments can be split in half between April and June, he said.
On a lighter note, Polis also urged people to channel their energy towards their pets and said the state has relaxed regulation around fostering and adopting animals. People should look into fostering pets, so they don’t sit in our shelters right now, he said.
“This will make a difference in their lives as well as yours,” Polis said.
Separately, Chalkbeat Colorado reports the federal economic stimulus package includes about $300 million for Colorado’s school districts and higher education institutions. Also, Denver-area districts have canceled in-person classes for the rest of the school year, Chalkbeat reports.
April 2, 4 p.m. update:
“You can tell I’m a little hoarse, just from talking so much. Listening, talking, listening, talking. Every day is a series of calls and virtual meetings, all day and night, as we try to do everything from acquire masks to increase hospital beds to increase compliance with the stay-home (order) and figure out the nuances of it, to address different legal questions, to the normal business of the governor.”
That’s what Gov. Jared Polis told Alex Burness of The Denver Post when asked how he’s feeling.
Here are some of the latest numbers on COVID-19 in Colorado from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
*According to CDPHE: “Positive cases include people who tested positive, as well as cases where epidemiological investigation has determined that there is a high likelihood that an untested individual has COVID-19 due to their symptoms and close contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19.”
You may have noticed the chart with the number of cases is missing. We’ll get something back up as soon as we figure out a way to report accurate, timely data that best depicts the trend in cases. We have been reporting the cumulative number of cases reported each day. We have asked the state for more accurate data reflecting when the diagnosed cases, hospitalizations and deaths were reported to the state.
In the meantime, check out this chart on unemployment claims.
April 2, 2 p.m. update:
The state’s actual number of COVID-19 cases could be four to 10 times the number who have tested positive, said Scott Bookman, Colorado’s incident commander for COVID-19, during a conference call with reporters on Thursday.
As of Wednesday, state health officials report there are 3,342 people diagnosed with COVID-19. That means about 13,300 to 33,400 people in Colorado could have COVID-19, according to state estimates. We have been reporting that the number of diagnosed COVID-19 cases is largely a function of testing capacity, and Gov. Polis repeatedly has said that thousands more Coloradans are likely infected than the numbers indicate. But today is the first time, state officials have gotten specific about how many potential thousands more, and underscore Polis’s reasoning in imposing a stay-at-home order.
Bookman also said the governor’s statement in a letter to Vice President Mike Pence on March 28 that “Colorado’s COVID-19 death rate is rising faster than any other state” is no longer accurate.
April 2, 9:40 a.m. update:
Gov. Jared Polis released a letter he wrote to Vice President Mike Pence requesting additional personal protective equipment and ventilators.
“We are facing a crisis-level shortage of these essential supplies to protect our health care workers and first responders. Colorado’s COVID-19 death rate is rising faster than any other state right now; the pandemic is spreading so fast that lags in testing are masking the true conditions experienced by Coloradans across the state,” Polis wrote on March 28.
According to state health officials, Colorado needs 10,000 ventilators, and associated equipment and pharmaceuticals, 2,000,000 N95 masks, 4,460,000 surgical masks, 720,000 gowns, 880,000 face shields, and 4,300,000 pairs of gloves.
Since last Saturday, Coloradans have filed 61,583 initial unemployment claims, according to the Department of Labor and Employment. During the Great Recession in 2010, the week with the highest number of claims reached 7,749, state labor officials said. For more perspective, a little over a half a million people filed for unemployment in 2009 and 2010, while more than 80,000 people filed initial claims in the past two weeks alone, according to officials.
From April 2 to April 27, the Public Utilities Commission has ordered towing companies to collect the base tow rate for a non-consensual tows from private properties of about $180. The commission prohibited companies from collecting mileage, fuel surcharge and storage fees. The order is meant to provide relief for those who are ordered to stay at home.
April 1, 5:45 p.m. update:
In a split decision, the Colorado Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled lawmakers can continue to meet past May 6 for the 2020 legislative session.
Lawmakers recessed on March 14. That same day, they voted to send an interrogatory to the court asking whether the time off would count toward the 120-day session. Some GOP lawmakers wanted the days to continue counting down despite the break, arguing in a brief to the court last week that the 120 days are “consecutive.”
The ruling means there will be less pressure for lawmakers to return to the Capitol during the COVID-19 outbreak. When they do return, they will likely pass a state budget and other legislation related to the COVID-19 response.
“We will continue looking at the data and talking to public health experts to determine when it is safe to come back to the Capitol. Once we do return, we’ll need everyone at the table to solve our most difficult challenges,” said House Speaker KC Becker, a Democrat from Boulder, in a statement.
In other news, the new coronavirus appears to be spreading across Colorado’s jails. The Greeley Tribune reports an inmate and four employees in the Weld County jail have tested positive for COVID-19. The Denver Post reports that while jail populations across the state have been dropping by about a third in recent weeks, the Weld County jail population has dropped by about 15%. Weld County Sheriff Steve Reams has been critical of the COVID-19 response in Colorado, saying on Facebook on March 20: “I understand that nobody wants to catch Coronavirus but statistically, even if you catch it you’re likely to be just fine. What I’m concerned with is our Country catching a huge case of socialism.”
We reported Monday that an inmate in Denver’s downtown jail tested positive for COVID-19.
April 1, 5:10 p.m. update:
Here are some of the latest numbers on COVID-19 in Colorado from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
*According to CDPHE: “Positive cases include people who tested positive, as well as cases where epidemiological investigation has determined that there is a high likelihood that an untested individual has COVID-19 due to their symptoms and close contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19.”
April 1, 4 p.m. update:
Infection models from state officials and the University of Colorado show there may be a surge in hospitalizations from COVID-19 that will overwhelm Colorado’s health care system between April and July.
from the Seattle-based Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluations is predicting a peak on April 16.
Gov. Jared Polis said Thursday the state’s medical surge team is working to build the capacity to meet those projections by mid-April. The state has ordered millions of additional units of personal protective equipment (PPE) for medical staff, Polis said.
It’s unclear how much PPE is needed to meet a surge. But it’s expected there isn’t enough.
“Right now, we simply don’t have the medical capacity,” Polis said. He added, “We are also facing a supply chain crisis.”
The goal is to increase ICU bed capacity to 5,000 by April 18, said Scott Bookman, the COVID-19 incident commander with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. Colorado’s current capacity sits at about 1,800. Bookman said the state needs at least an additional 15,000 beds at all levels of care by mid-April.
People who require hospitalization for COVID-19 may require ventilation and intensive care for 11-20 days, then may need lower levels of care after that, Bookman said.
Other than intensive care, the state has designated three other lower levels of care required as a patient’s symptoms become less severe, Bookman said. The Army Corps of Engineers is currently working to create beds at the lower levels of care.
Patients in the second level of care will use non-emergency medical facilities, those in the third will use arenas and warehouse spaces and patients in the fourth level will use hotels and motels, Bookman said.
“It will look similar to what you’re seeing right now in Central Park,” Bookman said, referring to the field hospitals being set up in New York City.
April 1, 1 p.m. update:
It’s the first of the month and rent is due for many Coloradans, tens of thousands of whom are now out of work.
Officials with the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment said they hope to mail unemployment checks to people within two weeks. This may be too late for the more than 60,000 Coloradans who filed for unemployment last week to use for rent.
As for the cash payments in the $2 trillion stimulus bill, signed by President Trump , they may take anywhere from weeks to months to reach taxpayers, according to by CBS News.
Even if that money did get to renters before they had to pay their landlords, it still may not be enough given the cost of other bills. Median rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Colorado currently is , according to Apartment List.
As The Denver Post’s Alex Burness reported, some Coloradans are calling for a rent freeze and even a rent strike, if they don’t get relief. A new Facebook called the Colorado Rent Strike and Eviction Defense has thousands of members and posts letters and actions from landlords and renters. A few posted letters from landlords wanting to work with people and some cited examples of new scheduled rent increases in the coming months.
The Colorado Apartment Association has urged its members, which it says represent about 282,000 apartments, to avoid late fees and create payment plans for renters who can’t pay their bills.
Michelle Lyng, a spokeswoman for the apartment association, said the association is asking those who can to pay rent to do so in order for landlords to offer help to tenants who cannot.
Gov. Jared Polis has urged, but not ordered, landlords to halt evictions and said he has instructed law enforcement to refrain from evicting tenants.
For updates on COVID-19 during the month of March, visit this page.
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Update: The latest on COVID-19 in Colorado
Nearly 3/4 of Aurora nursing home residents test positive for coronavirus, with at least five related deaths. Polis showcases Colorado Convention Center as alternative care site.
Nearly 3/4 of Aurora nursing home residents test positive for coronavirus, with at least five related deaths. Polis showcases Colorado Convention Center as alternative care site.
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