Jump In Positive COVID-19 Cases Putting Summit County's Designation At Risk
FRISCO, Colo. (CBS40) - Summit County is seeing a spike in COVID-19 cases it hasn't seen since Labor Day.
"Between Sept. 6 and Oct. 5, we've had 127 confirmed positive, as well as probable cases, and that's well over a quarter of our entire number cases that we've had in over seven months since the pandemic hit," said Nicole Valentine, Public Affairs for Summit County Public Health.
The county is also seeing a rise in testing. Last week the county administered approximately 500 tests, and as a result, it will pull its mobile testing sites at the end of the week and can consolidate all resources at its main testing facilities in Frisco.
While the summer saw tourism rise to pre-pandemic numbers, Valentine says the cause of the uptick has mainly been seen among the resident population. From large gatherings, to asymptomatic employees "... who get the virus from outbreaks and then bring it into their workplace unknowingly."
"We have a lot of restaurants, a thriving hospitality industry, however; individuals need to be at work they need to be there physically and those environments are very conducive to spread of the virus."
Over a two-week period ending Oct. 1, the positivity rate for Summit County jumped to 5.1% and the county now has two weeks to get the numbers down.
"It's very important to get our numbers back down to try to avoid a conversation with the state, and actually, moving backward into level three, into more restrictive measures."
While the restrictions would be up to the state, going from the current level two (Safer at Home restrictions) to level three could mean 25% capacity in restaurants and the closure of gyms.
With the ski season, just around the corner Valentine says contact tracers are working in overdrive to help contain the spread.
"They are building out plans to work with the state for ski season, and to work with our resorts because they'll definitely need increased capacity," said Valentine.
Valentine says celebrations will have to be done differently for a while longer, like Halloween for instance, which would bring closely knit groups in contact with people they don't normally associate with.
"We urge individuals to celebrate holidays differently and to do things at home with their households and avoid large gatherings."
