{"id":1320476,"date":"2020-06-11T22:20:00","date_gmt":"2020-06-12T04:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/no-sign-yet-of-a-covid-19-surge-in-aspen\/"},"modified":"2020-06-11T22:20:00","modified_gmt":"2020-06-12T04:20:00","slug":"no-sign-yet-of-a-covid-19-surge-in-aspen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/no-sign-yet-of-a-covid-19-surge-in-aspen\/","title":{"rendered":"No sign yet of a COVID-19 surge in Aspen"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image p402_hide\">\n<div class=\"caption-container\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"260\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/03\/COVID-19-HCS.png\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-post-image\" alt srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/03\/COVID-19-HCS.png 800w, https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/03\/COVID-19-HCS-300x98.png 300w, https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/03\/COVID-19-HCS-768x250.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\"><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Aspen restaurants and lodging have been open for more than two weeks on a limited basis and, so far, there\u2019s no sign of a surge in cases, a local hospital official said Thursday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWe remain comfortable in all categories,\u201d said Aspen Valley Hospital CEO Dave Ressler. \u201c(But) we\u2019re watching closely because there\u2019s so much activity (in town).\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The hospital has conducted 554 tests since the outbreak started, with just 27 of them coming up positive, he said. That translates to a 5% infection rate in Pitkin County, he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">There have been a total of 62 positive COVID-19 cases and two deaths in Pitkin County since the outbreak began, according to county statistics. During the early days of the outbreak, testing was not being done at AVH.<\/p>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col\" readability=\"6\">\n<div class=\"row gspi-donation gspi-donation-mobile p-0\" readability=\"7\">\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\">\n<p><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\"><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><h3 class=\"d-inline mr-3\">Support Local Journalism<\/h3>\n<p><button class=\"btn d-inline\" type=\"button\" onclick=\"handleDonationButtonClickMidArticle()\">Donate<\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The last positive case turned up Tuesday, though that person was sent home and not admitted to the hospital, said Lori Maloy, AVH chief clinical officer. The hospital hasn\u2019t admitted anyone who\u2019s tested positive for COVID-19 for 18 days, she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">AVH is seeing an average of two people with COVID-like symptoms per day in the emergency room, between three and four people a day at the respiratory evaluation center and is performing an average of six tests a day, Ressler said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The hospital now has the ability to use rapid COVID-19 testing through its own laboratory, which cuts the wait time for results to just 45 minutes, he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">In particular, the facility has seen a lot of people with allergies lately, which has led to an uptick in negative COVID tests, he said. However, he cautioned people who test negative to remain vigilant because the tests still have a 25-30% false negative rate.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">If those emergency room numbers eventually increase to seven or eight possible patients per day, the hospital would likely move into a more cautious phase because capacity could begin to be threatened, Ressler said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Hospital and Pitkin County Public Health officials want anyone with symptoms of COVID-19 to consult with their primary care physician, who will refer them for testing at the AVH respiratory evaluation center if need be. Those without a primary care doctor can call the hospital at 970-279-4111 for a testing referral. Patients who cannot afford a test will not have to pay.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">While businesses, restaurants and hotels are now open on a limited basis, Pitkin County\u2019s unemployment rate remains at more than 20%, said Nan Sundeen, the county\u2019s director of health and human services.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">That is prompting public health officials to begin planning for the near future when the federal government\u2019s additional stimulus unemployment benefits run out, she said. The county plans to look at economic forecasts and will begin looking at programs that build new job skills for local workers, Sundeen said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The economic devastation in the county has been notable.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Federal food assistance applications have risen from 180 cases in 2019 to 293 in April. The monthly total issuance of those benefits rose from $30,000 in March to $90,000 in April, she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">In addition, 1,963 people received food from distribution centers in the Upper Roaring Fork Valley between April 20 and May 2, with more than 1,800 people utilizing the free food distribution throughout May, according to statistics presented Thursday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The county also has provided more than $2.2 million in emergency cash assistance for food and rent to 2,821 people in Pitkin County, said Chad Federwitz, the county\u2019s senior services manager. Nearly 65% of that aid went to Aspen residents, with about 19% going to Snowmass Village residents and 9.5% to Basalt residents, he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The area\u2019s homeless population also has been taken care of, Sundeen said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Some of that population was able to shelter overnight at the Health and Human Services Building across from AVH though March and the beginning of April, Sundeen said. Aspen\u2019s winter homeless shelter shut down at the beginning of the pandemic on orders from the archdiocese, she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">After early April, however, many stopped coming to the overnight shelter and the county \u2014with the assistance of the Aspen Skiing Co. and municipalities \u2014 set up a camp for the homeless at the Intercept Lot, Sundeen said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The county hired a camp host to supervise the area, which is equipped with bathrooms, hand-wash stations and bear-proof food lockers. About 17 people are now staying at the camp, she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cIt\u2019s working really well,\u201d Sundeen said, noting that it is being kept clean and those staying there are observing proper social distancing protocols and temperature checks.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Tagline\"><a href=\"mailto:jauslander@aspentimes.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">jauslander@aspentimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/news\/local\/no-sign-yet-of-a-covid-19-surge-in-aspen\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Aspen restaurants and lodging have been open for more than two weeks on a limited basis and, so far, there\u2019s no sign of a surge in cases, a local hospital official said Thursday. \u201cWe remain comfortable in all categories,\u201d said Aspen Valley Hospital CEO Dave Ressler. \u201c(But) we\u2019re watching closely because there\u2019s so much activity [&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-1320476","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-07-04 20:23:29","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\/1320476","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=1320476"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1320476\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1320476"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1320476"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1320476"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}