Chaffee County positivity rate reaches 6.62%

The state of Colorado surpassed 3,000 deaths, since data collection began in March, directly attributable to COVID-19 with a total of 3,005 as of Thursday.

The state reported a pandemic total of 276,995 cases as of Thursday with a seven-day moving average of 4,019 cases daily and a seven-day positivity rate of 11.23 percent.

In Chaffee County the pandemic total of positive cases rose to 750 Thursday with the addition of six cases on Thursday and seven cases from previous days.

With the newly reported cases Chaffee County’s 14-day positivity rate rose to 6.62 percent. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends no higher than a 5 percent positivity rate.

One of those cases was a staff member at Buena Vista Correctional Facility where Colorado Department of Corrections reported there are currently 50 active cases of COVID-19 within the inmate population.

The facility has been experiencing a second outbreak since Oct. 21. To date this outbreak has seen 154 positive cases among inmates and 30 cases among staff. Many correctional complex staff members live outside Chaffee County and are not included in county numbers.

Although the majority of COVID-19 cases in Chaffee County are recuperating at home, three cases are reported to currently be under care at Heart of the Rockies Regional Medical Center.

Chaffee County Public Health director and incident command for COVID-19 Andrea Carlstrom said in a press release, “Each positive COVID-19 case in our community has been a setback for not just individuals or families, but for the county as a whole.”

“Given our continued rise in cases, it is highly likely that we will be moved from the orange level to the red severe risk level within the near future, unless we turn things around,” she said.

She urged community members to be part of the solution and to do everything in their power to slow the spread of COVID-10 in the community.