County COVID team feeling comfortable with current situation

Don’t forget about the long game

By Mark Reaman

The number of people getting tested for COVID-19 continues to climb in Gunnison County, but the positive test results are minimal. “So far, we are doing okay,” said county public information officer Andrew Sandstrom. “It is something we are continually monitoring but we are not seeing a spike.”

As of Wednesday afternoon, July 8, there were 124 official positive tests recorded in the county—just one more than the previous week. But there were also 91 pending tests waiting for results.

“While there is an uptick in testing numbers, the vast majority are negative,” said Sandstrom. “The reasoning for more tests could be a greater awareness that a second wave might come, given the increase in numbers in neighboring states or states where visitors originate from. Allergies could still be playing a part and as more people schedule non-essential surgeries there is more pre-op testing for the coronavirus.”

Sandstrom admitted the lag time between testing and getting a result is still longer than optimal. Part of that is due to Colorado labs getting more samples to test.

He said the county’s science team is working on a plan for some random testing in the valley, to get people who are not at all symptomatic to take a test—for instance, returning Western Colorado University students. The goal is to get a significant sampling so the science team can make informed assumptions.

As for antibody testing in the county, Sandstrom said 948 such tests have been given and 257 came back positive for the antibodies. “That’s a 27 percent positivity rate but the number is skewed because everyone who has taken that test thinks they had the virus,” he said. “We also don’t really know what it means. How long do the antibodies last? How strong is the immunity? Given the unknowns, we aren’t putting a lot of weight behind those numbers.”

Making the numbers more clear

Speaking of numbers, the county’s COVID “by the numbers” dashboard is getting a facelift and a new look should come out this week. “We are revamping it so that indicator guidelines that would take us to a higher ‘Yellow’ risk level is front and center,” Sandstrom explained. “We hope it gives everyone a warning if we are moving in the wrong direction.”

Acknowledging there is some confusion about how positives and negatives are counted at times, Sandstrom said the county is lined up with the state protocol. So, for example, if a tourist tests positive but the permanent address is in Houston, that positive is tabulated in Texas and not here. “But we contact trace everyone thoroughly,” he said. “So far there has been only one of those types of cases where an out-of-towner remained in the county and wasn’t counted. We have had some out-of-towners that tested positive but headed home. We have also seen it the other way, where someone with a permanent address in the county tested positive while somewhere else, but that was included in our count. The big point is that contact tracing is being performed so we try to see who the person who tested positive while here has been in contact with. We are actively monitoring those things.

“We are also trying to keep our data as concise as possible so as not to confuse the public,” Sandstrom continued. “But deeper details are always available on the website.”

Trying again with a variance .request

The variance request to the state to let Gunnison County determine health orders based on the color-coded Coronameter was denied last week. Sandstrom said the state relayed that the request did not fit in with the current Colorado “Safer at Home” risk level. They were told to try again when the state shifts from the Safer at Home risk level to the Protect Our Neighbor level. Those levels contain different state metrics to determine the level of risk.

“The state wants to make sure some counties do a good job before moving forward,” Sandstrom said. “The state wants the control because there are a few counties not adhering to the COVID-19 regulations. Weld County is a mess right now. So we will resubmit our variance request under the new framework.”

Look to the long game

The Incident Command Team remains alert but comfortable with the current local numbers. “We feel we are within the metrics outlined by the state right now so we are moving forward with our variance request. For example, we think we can accommodate 250 people at an outdoor gathering as opposed the current 175. If we continue to see the good numbers we are recording we will hopefully keep moving forward as a county,” Sandstrom said.

“It is really important we not lose sight and we keep focusing on the long game. It’s not just about getting through July. We need to get the schools open, get university students back to Western and make sure Crested Butte Mountain Resort is able to reopen. Don’t forget the long game,” he said.

So keep socially distancing. Wear a mask if able and wash your hands often.