{"id":1319548,"date":"2020-04-20T17:26:49","date_gmt":"2020-04-20T23:26:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/?p=995792"},"modified":"2020-04-20T17:26:49","modified_gmt":"2020-04-20T23:26:49","slug":"garfield-county-itches-to-reopen-from-covid-19-lockdowns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/garfield-county-itches-to-reopen-from-covid-19-lockdowns\/","title":{"rendered":"Garfield County itches to reopen from COVID-19 lockdowns"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image p402_hide\">\n<div class=\"caption-container\"> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"697\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/04\/AP20111836288136-1024x697.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-post-image\" alt srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/04\/AP20111836288136-1024x697.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/04\/AP20111836288136-300x204.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/04\/AP20111836288136-768x523.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/04\/AP20111836288136-1536x1046.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/04\/AP20111836288136-2048x1394.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"><figcaption><strong>FILE &#8211; In this April 3, 2020, file photo, a scientist presents an antibody test to use with a blood sample for the coronavirus at a laboratory of the Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology (Leibniz IPHT) at the InfectoGnostics research campus in Jena, Germany. While many laboratories and companies are now offering tests, there are still only two main types available. The nasal swab test tells you if you have an active viral infection right now. A separate blood test tells you if you were previously exposed to the virus and fought off the infection.<\/strong><br \/><em>AP Photo\/Jens Meyer, File<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>The question on everyone\u2019s mind right now seems to be how soon society can reopen from the coronavirus lockdowns.<\/p>\n<p>According to Garfield County Public Health Director Yvonne Long, public health is still very much in the response phase of the coronavirus outbreak, and the next phase will have to depend on widespread testing and \u201cintensive contact tracing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But one essential piece of that puzzle, the testing, is simply not available.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe all know that that has been the largest point of frustration for everybody dealing with this,\u201d Long told the board of county commissioners Monday.<\/p>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col\">\n<div class=\"row gspi-donation gspi-donation-mobile p-0\">\n<div class=\"col-xl-4 p-2\">\n<div data-bg=\"url(https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/03\/PI-logo-white.png)\" class=\"p-0 mt-2 mb-2 h-75 text-center rocket-lazyload\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/03\/PI-logo-white.png\" class=\"logo m-0 p-0 invisible\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-bg=\"url(https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/03\/pi-banner-paypal.jpg)\" class=\"col-xl-8 p-3 text-center rocket-lazyload\">\n<h3 class=\"d-inline mr-3\">Support Local Journalism<\/h3>\n<p><button class=\"btn d-inline\" type=\"button\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/donate\/?utm_source=article&amp;utm_medium=website&amp;utm_campaign=donation&amp;utm_term=&amp;utm_content=mid-article\">Donate<\/a><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote p402_hide\" readability=\"1.5\">\n<blockquote readability=\"6\">\n<p>\u201cThe community wants to reopen. We should help with that as much as possible.\u201d \u2014 Commissioner Tom Jankovsky<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n<p>\u201cAll we want is testing. Everybody in our community wants it, we want it, our primary care providers want it, our hospitals want it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>But the demand for testing isn\u2019t limited to Garfield County, Long said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUnfortunately, we came into this as a nation and the testing was not there. The capabilities, the capacity, the testing equipment, the swabs, everything, the (personal protective equipment) \u2014 none of it was really there. And we burned through it really quickly,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Commissioner Tom Jankovsky said there will likely be protests and rogue business openings if businesses aren\u2019t allowed to open soon.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need to reopen this society, our business communities, and let people get back out into society, with standards,\u201d Jankovsky said.<\/p>\n<p>The purpose of the self-isolation was to \u201cflatten the curve,\u201d or reduce the initial spike in cases so as not to overwhelm medical providers, Jankovsky said. That has been successful, he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe haven\u2019t overwhelmed our hospitals here in Garfield County. In fact, we have more capacity; we didn\u2019t get close to overwhelming them,\u201d Jankovsky said.<\/p>\n<p>Garfield County has 35 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 36 probable cases for a total of 71 cases as of Monday morning, Long said. Of those, a total of 16 required hospitalization.<\/p>\n<p>There have been two deaths in the county officially attributed to the coronavirus.<\/p>\n<p>Unlike Pitkin County and others that implemented stricter rules on businesses than the state, Garfield County follows Gov. Jared Polis\u2019 executive orders.<\/p>\n<p>Polis\u2019 stay-at-home order ends April 27, and during a press conference Monday afternoon, the governor presented a few strategies that would allow the state to begin relaxing certain restrictions.<\/p>\n<p>The stay-at-home order cut social interactions by 75 to 80 percent, Polis said. As the order expires, he wants to maintain about 60 percent fewer interactions than pre-coronavirus times.<\/p>\n<p>Certain businesses will be allowed to reopen in the coming weeks, Polis said, but restaurants and clubs will likely not reopen until mid-May, Polis said.<\/p>\n<p>Some counties may be able to open up sooner than the rest of the state, if they have hospital capacity, testing, and are well prepared, Polis said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn a big, diverse state, there should not be one statewide approach,\u201d Polis said.<\/p>\n<p>An increased testing will also have to come with contact tracing, Long said.<\/p>\n<p>Contact tracing isn\u2019t a new process. Public health follows up with confirmed cases of salmonella, tuberculosis, norovirus and other disease outbreaks.<\/p>\n<p>But the coronavirus is already stretching the capability of public health to trace confirmed cases.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOut of the 71 cases we know about, we\u2019ve probably talked to close to 200 people, so you can see how that expands out greatly, and that\u2019s very time consuming,\u201d Long told the commissioners.<\/p>\n<p>The health department will likely need to hire additional staff to do the \u201cintensive contract tracing\u201d required, Long said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrom our perspective, we are going to help however we can with that,\u201d Jankovsky said.<\/p>\n<p>Jankovsky said he has heard from people who are planning protests if the county doesn\u2019t begin to open by May 1. He said he\u2019s heard from some tourism and hospitality businesses who are making plans to be open by Memorial Day.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe community wants to reopen. We should help with that as much as possible,\u201d Jankovsky said.<\/p>\n<p><em><a href=\"mailto:tphippen@postindependent.com\">tphippen@postindependent.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/news\/garfield-county-itches-to-reopen-from-covid-19-lockdowns\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>FILE &#8211; In this April 3, 2020, file photo, a scientist presents an antibody test to use with a blood sample for the coronavirus at a laboratory of the Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology (Leibniz IPHT) at the InfectoGnostics research campus in Jena, Germany. While many laboratories and companies are now offering tests, there are [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1319548","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-29 21:16:17","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1319548","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1319548"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1319548\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1319548"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1319548"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1319548"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}