COVID-19 General Thread for Colorado Springs (Denver, Colorado City: for sale, salons, compensation)

[dr.frog]

Personally, I'm bracing for another shutdown before the end of the year. I've been keeping my food and TP supplies topped off and trying to anticipate that there may be other delivery delays and supply-chain problems again too.

[Vision67]

Originally Posted by dr.frog

Personally, I'm bracing for another shutdown before the end of the year. I've been keeping my food and TP supplies topped off and trying to anticipate that there may be other delivery delays and supply-chain problems again too.

Yup.

We should be locked down now based upon the data. In fact, I've locked myself down since March 14. I think our political leaders are too wimpy to take action. Also, too many people would simply ignore any mandate.

So load up on supplies.

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by Vision67

Yup.

We should be locked down now based upon the data. In fact, I've locked myself down since March 14. I think our political leaders are too wimpy to take action. Also, too many people would simply ignore any mandate.

So load up on supplies.

Agree. I've been in lockdown since mid-March. As T-P came back into abundance in summer I've built up a year's supply of it, and now I'm gathering black beans and other food items that do not need refrigeration.

[TCHP]

True, the numbers do support this compared to April if you look at just the figures. However, we also have the experience of how brutal the lock down was financially as well as some better understand of how the virus behaves and measures to limit its spread. We just need people to get back on the same page of caution we were exercising earlier in the crisis. Over the last several months I have watched people get increasingly lax about safety measures they used diligently in the first few months.

[amattaro]

My kids have been in school five days a week in D-38 with nary a problem. Maybe, just maybe, the problem doesn’t require a sledge hammer to solve. I should lockdown because elderly and people who make no effort to care for themselves appear to be the most susceptible to this? Hard pass.

[dr.frog]

I agree completely with what others have been saying -- I've been avoiding going out except for necessary business ever since March, and I decided a few weeks ago that things were getting bad enough that I ought to cut out excursions that were kind of marginal as well, like getting take-out food from Panda Express etc once in a while as a break from the groceries I'm getting via delivery or curbside pickup. But I have friends here in CO who are doing all their "normal" activities (working in an office, attending business lunches, kids in school, etc), and my sister who lives in CA is still planning to have her kids fly in from across the country for Thanksgiving, In the former case they think everyone in their family is safe because they are all young and healthy, and in the latter case they think they are safe because they are being "careful" in spite of the gaping exception due to the travel involved. Maybe they need the government to step in and say no, those things are not safe.

[DoodlemomCoS]

Based on personal conversations I’ve had with several families in the D20 area, families (including ones I have spoken with) are hiding the fact that they or their kids are sick because they either want or need their kids to stay in school. Some people have even kept their kids home for a day or two and then sent them back to school. Not many families I know are deciding to get tested.

This is the reason we decided at the beginning of this year to keep our special needs kid home and have him do virtual. It’s sucks and he really needs his supports that he gets in school but we just can’t chance it. He is immune compromised. I have zero faith most people will do the right thing. The fact that I personally know people who are lying has cost me friendships which is unfortunate.

For those that say being out a year from school will damage the kids, maybe in rare cases but overall I disagree. My oldest is a cancer survivor. She was out of Brick and mortar school for 2.5 years homebound and had limited social interaction during that time. Today she is head of her class as a sophomore, has a 4.4 gpa, she has tons of friends, does well socially, Is taking AP classes, etc. I get it, helping to teach a kid virtually is hard. Helping to teach a kid with a plethora of disabilities is even harder. But that’s what we will continue to do as I can’t trust people to be honest or do what I feel is the responsible thing.

[Mike from back east]

^^^ Hero Mom ^^^

[DoodlemomCoS]

Thanks Mike.

I don’t expect society in CoS to stop for my son because he is Immune compromised. That’s why we as a family are being proactive in our ability to self quarantine. I worry about the businesses that are impacted by this and I feel this is a difficult problem to resolve both health wise and economically. If people could just be smart and safe about their actions, we could keep businesses open while doing our best to protect the most vulnerable. Tough times for all involved. And to every parent helping their kid(s) learn virtually, I applaud you. There isn’t enough wine In the world for our “off hours”.

Be safe everyone.

[Vision67]

Rising COVID-19 rates increase restrictions on gatherings, businesses in El Paso County

https://gazette.com/news/rising-covi...6875a7dfe.html

"The state health department has moved El Paso County to the more restrictive orange "high risk" stage on its COVID-19 dial — a step below a stay-at-home order —reducing capacity limits at most public places from 50% to 25%.

The move comes weeks after the county passed the benchmark for the more restrictive stage, and days after it passed the benchmark for a countywide stay-at-home order.

As of Wednesday, El Paso County's disease incidence rate was more than double the benchmark to qualify for such an order, with 750 cases per 100,000 residents over a two-week period. A rate of 351 or greater is qualifying, though the state tends to give a two-week grace period that allows counties to formulate a mitigation plan. The county's rate of positive COVID-19 cases among those tested was 13% on Wednesday, well above the 5% ceiling recommended by the World Health Organization for communities to reopen.

"Unfortunately, the data is showing that our current level of restriction is not enough to stop the rise in cases and hospitalizations," Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers said in a statement to The Gazette. "This is concerning for our businesses and especially our restaurants. I am hopeful that with the cooperation of our residents, leadership of our health department and commitment by our businesses, we can reverse the trend of COVID-19 infections quickly and return to a more open economy."

El Paso County was moved by the state to the yellow "caution" stage on Nov. 4. On that day, the county had already qualified for the more-restrictive orange stage for nearly three weeks, and had met the benchmark disease incidence rate for a stay-at-home order for two days.

The county passed the benchmark to qualify for a stay-at-home order on Nov. 2, with rates rising since.

The demotion reduces capacity limits from 50% to 25% maximum at indoor restaurants, offices, gyms, stores and events and makes the county ineligible for variances. Capacity limits do not currently apply to places of worship due to a federal court order, though social distancing is still required in such settings. Bars are currently closed unless operating as restaurants.

Under level orange, schools are recommended to move to remote or hybrid models, with limited in-person services as needed. However, last week the state reclassified schools as "critical businesses," allowing them to remain open even in the case of a stay-at-home order. On Friday Falcon School District 49 announced it would transition classes online for the rest of the semester effective Monday. On Wednesday the city's second largest district, Colorado Springs School District 11, announced that it would transition classes online after Thanksgiving break for the remainder of the semester, as did Harrison School District 2.

Nearly all personal gatherings, in counties at all levels, are limited to 10 or fewer people of no more than two households by a state public health order. The state is asking residents to only interact in person with members of their household this month.

The additional time the state health department has been granting counties to rein in their rising numbers of COVID-19 cases without imposing more stringent rules has raised concerns from health officials in the Denver metro area and the Colorado Association of Local Public Health Officials.

"We are concerned that with the steep acceleration of cases and hospitalization, these delays will reduce the value of the additional restrictions ... essentially rendering them 'too little, too late,'" they wrote in a Nov. 5 letter to state officials involved in the pandemic response.

State officials in September debuted the virus “dial dashboard," available on its website, that tracks the progress of counties in controlling the sometimes deadly disease by colored levels, similar to fire-danger signs.

Attached to each level are corresponding restrictions and guidelines on gatherings or events, educational institutions, restaurants and other businesses. The least restrictive level for counties with the best control was dubbed "Protect Our Neighbors" and coded green. A middle set of levels, dubbed "Safer at Home," includes three sub levels, coded blue, yellow and orange, with qualifying incidence levels of 0 through 350 cases per 100,000 residents per two-week period. The fifth and most restrictive level, dubbed ""Stay at Home" and coded red, is reserved for communities with more than 350 cases."