County move to reopen depends on testing that we don’t yet have

On the phone to South Korea and China…

By Mark Reaman

As Colorado Governor Jared Polis announced Monday that the state is ready to lighten up some health restrictions in place to battle the COVID-19 crisis, the county is working to try and parallel the new state restrictions as much as possible but making clear the county regulations might be more strict in certain areas given circumstances unique to Gunnison County.

Local officials have stated repeatedly that one of the main “keystones” to reopening Gunnison County to both residents and tourists is testing. And at the moment there is a shortage of tests available in the county.

“We are beating the bushes and making every phone call we can to China and South Korea, other counties and hospitals across the country to find tests,” county commissioner John Messner told a group of business leaders on Tuesday. “Testing is an important keystone to getting back open and moving forward. We haven’t found that source yet. We are talking to other counties seeing where and what type of tests they have available and seeing if it could work for us. I am optimistic that in the near future we will receive a good chunk of testing but at the moment we are dependent on what the state is giving us.”

Gunnison County Public Health director Joni Reynolds said testing was “critical” to move forward. She said the county is waiting to hear specifics on how the state will move from stay-at-home orders to a new “safer-at home” phase. She then wants to “coordinate as closely as possible” with the state while admitting this county “will not be in perfect synch with the state during reopening.”

She is relying on a framework of reopening the county based in guidance from the Colorado Association of Local Public Health Officials and a “Box It In” model developed by a former director of the CDC. Both frameworks outline metrics that must be met before reopening. They include seeing a sustained decrease in cases for at least 14 days; making sure the hospital can safely treat patients; expanding and having testing available for all people with symptoms consistent with COVID-19 infection; engage in active monitoring and tracing for all COVID-19 cases and their contacts; isolating infected individuals and quarantining their contacts; and continuing to require clear protocol that require social distancing.

Reynolds described the county as coming out of the so-called “hammer” phase of the coronavirus spread and moving to the “dance” where the virus is contained. “It might at times feel like we are dancing on hot coals but we all are ready to move forward,” she said. “This delicate balance of reopening while limiting the spread of disease will last into the coming months.”

Reynolds said the goal was to have a slow, orderly reopening instead of using a Ping-Pong approach where restrictions are loosened and then tightened and then loosened.

Officials expect that as regulations are lightened there is a good chance more people will get sick from COVID-19 and there is the possibility of more deaths as a result. So far four local people have died from the virus, the latest this week. 70-year old Michael Graber of Mt. Crested Butte had been transferredf to Grand Junction on March 18 which is where he passed away. The ultimate goal is to not overwhelm the local healthcare system including the Gunnison Valley Hospital and nearby hospitals with ICU capability. In the last six weeks 32 people have been admitted to GVH for COVID-19 symptoms. Seventeen have been transferred to other hospitals with ICUs.

Meanwhile Gunnison Public Health was informed of a suspected coronavirus outbreak at the West Elk Mine in Gunnison County on the other side of Kebler Pass. On April 21 there were four positive results among mine employees, all who reside in Delta County.

The county announced Tuesday that a new section of the Incident Command Team was organized to focus on economic recovery. A standard process is being developed to review, advise and approve the ability of specific businesses to open within the phased reopening approach.

A seventh amended public health order was issued Tuesday. It basically loosened restrictions on constructions sites, allowed for elective surgeries in the county, allowed for golfing and shooting ranges to open with social distancing measures, required face masks for critical business employees and critical government functions and moved the sunset date of the health order to April 26 to coincide with the state’s orders.

Another updated order is expected by the weekend.