The COVID-19 surge is “creating severe challenges” for hospitals and will threat the state’s financial restoration and in-person studying at colleges, the board mentioned.
JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. — The Jefferson County Public Well being Division (JCPH) is contemplating a brand new county masks mandate and despatched a letter to Gov. Jared Polis on Thursday asking for an govt order for face coverings statewide.
The Jeffco Board of Well being will maintain a public listening to at its assembly on Monday on the opportunity of new “viral mitigation methods, together with a common masks mandate,” in line with a JCPH spokesperson.
The draft for a mandate, which might apply to indoor public areas, will probably be posted on-line earlier than the assembly, which will probably be digital and can begin at 11 a.m. Monday, the spokesperson mentioned.
The Board of Well being additionally despatched a letter to Polis on Thursday stressing the necessity for statewide motion amid a surge of COVID-19 hospitalizations. The letter requested the governor to implement a brief govt order requiring face coverings in indoor public areas and to debate new methods to extend the state’s vaccination price.
> Click on right here to learn the letter from JCPH to Polis.
“Masking has been proven to be an efficient measure to curb the unfold of COVID-19/Delta Variant,” in line with the letter. “That is extraordinarily essential given the upcoming vacation seasons the place each native and out of state households and pals will collect for indoor actions.”
The letter says the present COVID-19 surge may threaten the state’s financial restoration and in-person studying in colleges, places weak folks in danger, and continues to emphasize “crippled well being care techniques.”
In Jefferson County, 102 residents are at present hospitalized on account of COVID-19, and 16 county residents have died from COVID since Nov. 8, JCPH mentioned in a information launch Thursday.
“The persevering with speedy proliferation of COVID-19 and delta variant circumstances inside our state and county continues to be of grave concern,” mentioned Greg Deranleau, president of the Board of Well being, within the launch.
“Our primary precedence because the Board of Well being is to advertise and shield the well being of our residents, and we’ll proceed to take motion to deal with this surge in Jeffco, however we strongly imagine a constant statewide method is one of the simplest ways to scale back the unfold of this virus in a significant means,” Deranleau mentioned.
On Wednesday, the state’s COVID-19 incident commander, Scott Bookman, mentioned the trajectory of hospitalizations places the state in a “precarious place.”
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In Colorado, greater than 9,000 folks have died from COVID-19 for the reason that pandemic started, in accordance knowledge launched Thursday by the Colorado Division of Public Well being and Atmosphere (CDPHE).
The state’s seven-day positivity price was 9.75% on Thursday, with 2,686 new circumstances and 186 new hospitalizations. Of those that are hospitalized, 82% are unvaccinated, in line with CDPHE knowledge.
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