San Miguel Public Health: COVID-19 Update! Cases on the Rise!

13 Nov San Miguel Public Health: COVID-19 Update! Cases on the Rise!

Positive COVID cases continue to spread throughout San Miguel County with no signs of slowing down. Urgent mitigation plan enacted. For up-to-date coronavirus information visit here. For more information surrounding the state’s COVID-19 dial, visit here.

San Miguel Public Health has confirmed 12 new positive cases of COVID-19 from test results received on Thursday, November 12. All 12 cases are residents and asymptomatic. (These positive cases are detailed below.)

Wednesday’s outstanding positive case of a 34-year-old male is confirmed as a resident who became symptomatic through community exposure. At this time, all positive cases have been contacted and are currently in isolation. To date there is a of 140 COVID cases among residents, with 27 active. These cases were results of travel, household, community or social spread. To learn more about the County’s current COVID-19 metrics, please visit the County COVID-19 dashboard.

About 50 families have been identified as positive through contact tracing  in the Norwood School District.

On the county level, that brings the total number of  residents who tested positive to nearly 400 in the month of November alone.

Due to the effective preventative measures taken by the Norwood School District and Public Health to contain the spread of COVID-19, administration has placed Prime Time Early Learning Center, Pre-K and grade 1 classrooms in quarantine. Based on staffing shortages resulting from known positives, grades 2 and 3 are closed at this time as well. The preventative measures taken at Norwood School District continue to keep Kindergarten and grades 4 through 12 in school given that no new cases arise.

Yesterday, the Uncompahgre Medical Center worked diligently to test 46 patients for COVID-19 and are continuing to see more patients. Recognizing the significant number of close contacts from these recent cases, Public Health will open a testing site prioritizing those impacted. A larger community testing clinic will occur in the coming weeks.

If contact has been made with a known COVID positive, the optimal time for getting yourself tested is 7 to 14 days after exposure.

The National Guard administered 1,101 swab tests during the free San Miguel County COVID testing clinic on Thursday, November 12. Those tested were asked to quarantine until results are returned within 3 to 5 business days. Negative test results do not make holiday travel, day-to-day activity or personal gatherings safer and do not exempt residents from new Safer at Home Level Orange restrictions.

Public Health encourages residents to consider their contact budget, or amount of people that come into close contact weekly. Now more than ever, it is imperative that Coloradans, especially those in rural communities like San Miguel County, reduce their contact with those outside their household. Contact budgets should be limited to no more than 10 people from no more than two separate households per week in order to rapidly reduce transmission rates.

Positive COVID-19 test results from Thursday, November 12 include:

• San 67-year-old female, resident, symptomatic, exposure type unknown
• 63-year-old female, resident, symptomatic, social and travel exposure
• 49-year-old male, resident, symptomatic, household exposure
• 48-year-old female, resident, symptomatic, household exposure
• 43-year-old male, resident, symptomatic, household exposure
• 42-year-old male, resident, symptomatic, close contact to known positive
• 41-year-old male, resident, symptomatic, community exposure
• 41-year-old male, resident, symptomatic, social and travel exposure
• 38-year-old female, resident, symptomatic, social and travel exposure
• 35-year-old male, resident, symptomatic, household exposure
• 29-year-old male, resident, symptomatic, workplace exposure
• 5-year-old female, resident, symptomatic, social and travel exposure

Five Commitments of Containment:

Wear a mask
Maintain six feet of physical distance
Minimize group size
Wash hands frequently
Stay home when sick and get tested