{"id":2455720,"date":"2020-03-12T23:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-03-13T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/?p=322585"},"modified":"2020-03-12T23:00:00","modified_gmt":"2020-03-13T05:00:00","slug":"aspen-area-resident-tests-pending-as-10th-aussie-case-confirmed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/aspen-area-resident-tests-pending-as-10th-aussie-case-confirmed\/","title":{"rendered":"Aspen area resident tests pending as 10th Aussie case confirmed"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"swift-gallery p402_hide\" readability=\"6.8418766290182\">\n<ul id=\"imageGallery-322585-984\" class=\"gallery list-unstyled\">\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/coronanumbers-atd-031320-3-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/coronanumbers-atd-031320-3-1024x636.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times | A healthcare provider prepares to label a vial at the coronavirus testing location located at the Aspen Volunteer Fire Department\u2019s Aspen Village Location on Thursday, March 12, 2020. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"0\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"11\">\n<p><strong>A healthcare provider prepares to label a vial at the coronavirus testing location located at the Aspen Volunteer Fire Department\u2019s Aspen Village Location on Thursday, March 12, 2020. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)<\/strong><br \/>Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/coronanumbers-atd-031320-3-1024x636.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"A healthcare provider prepares to label a vial at the coronavirus testing location located at the Aspen Volunteer Fire Department\u2019s Aspen Village Location on Thursday, March 12, 2020. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/coronanumbers-atd-031320-3-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/coronanumbers-atd-031320-3-1-1024x697.jpg\" data-sub-html=\" | Healthcare providers perform a real-time test for Coronavirus on patients with appointments outside of the Aspen Volunteer Fire Department\u2019s Aspen Village Location on Thursday, March 12, 2020. The testing location is for patients with appointments scheduled through the Pitkin County Coronavirus Hotline. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"0.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"12\">\n<p><strong>Healthcare providers perform a real-time test for Coronavirus on patients with appointments outside of the Aspen Volunteer Fire Department\u2019s Aspen Village Location on Thursday, March 12, 2020. The testing location is for patients with appointments scheduled through the Pitkin County Coronavirus Hotline. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/coronanumbers-atd-031320-3-1-1024x697.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"Healthcare providers perform a real-time test for Coronavirus on patients with appointments outside of the Aspen Volunteer Fire Department\u2019s Aspen Village Location on Thursday, March 12, 2020. The testing location is for patients with appointments scheduled through the Pitkin County Coronavirus Hotline. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/coronanumbers-atd-031320-3-2-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/coronanumbers-atd-031320-3-2-1024x682.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times | A healthcare provider puts a fit-tested mask over her face before her next patient at the coronavirus testing location at the Aspen Volunteer Fire Department\u2019s Aspen Village Location on Thursday, March 12, 2020. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"0\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"11\">\n<p><strong>A healthcare provider puts a fit-tested mask over her face before her next patient at the coronavirus testing location at the Aspen Volunteer Fire Department\u2019s Aspen Village Location on Thursday, March 12, 2020. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)<\/strong><br \/>Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/coronanumbers-atd-031320-3-2-1024x682.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"A healthcare provider puts a fit-tested mask over her face before her next patient at the coronavirus testing location at the Aspen Volunteer Fire Department\u2019s Aspen Village Location on Thursday, March 12, 2020. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/coronanumbers-atd-031320-3-3-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/coronanumbers-atd-031320-3-3-1024x682.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times | Healthcare providers prepare for their first scheduled appointment at a coronavirus testing location at the Aspen Volunteer Fire Department\u2019s Aspen Village Location on Thursday, March 12, 2020. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"0\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"11\">\n<p><strong>Healthcare providers prepare for their first scheduled appointment at a coronavirus testing location at the Aspen Volunteer Fire Department\u2019s Aspen Village Location on Thursday, March 12, 2020. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)<\/strong><br \/>Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/coronanumbers-atd-031320-3-3-1024x682.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"Healthcare providers prepare for their first scheduled appointment at a coronavirus testing location at the Aspen Volunteer Fire Department\u2019s Aspen Village Location on Thursday, March 12, 2020. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"caption-toggle\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/aspen-area-resident-tests-pending-as-10th-aussie-case-confirmed\/#\" class=\"show-captions\">Show Captions<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/aspen-area-resident-tests-pending-as-10th-aussie-case-confirmed\/#\" class=\"hide-captions\">Hide Captions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText DropCap\">Authorities confirmed the 10th case of COVID-19 in Aspen on Thursday as they waited for test results from samples taken from numerous local residents with possible virus-related symptoms.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Thursday\u2019s positive test meant that all 10 members of a traveling group of Australians who visited Aspen recently and were tested this week by public health officials turned out to be \u201cpresumptive positive\u201d for the coronavirus. Another three people declined to be tested for the virus though they also displayed symptoms associated with it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">All 13, who remain in isolation in Aspen, were members of a group of 18 Australians who visited Aspen recently and developed symptoms after a fellow member of the group returned home and tested positive for COVID-19. They are all experiencing mild symptoms, said Karen Koenemann, Pitkin County public health director.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Public health officials have not made clear why the other five people in the group who were not symptomatic were not monitored. The latest presumptive positive test was a man in his 70s, according to a state news release.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Despite the continued isolation here of those who have tested positive for COVID-19, the virus is probably now making its way through the Aspen community and other Colorado cities and towns, according to a Wednesday news release from the Colorado Department of Health and Environment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cBased on the information CDPHE is receiving from presumptive positive cases, CDPHE has reason to suspect we are seeing limited community spread in Colorado,\u201d the release states.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Local and state public health officials echoed that forecast Thursday during the media conference call.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cAs we start to see the spread of this disease increase exponentially across the state \u2026 there will be a point where we\u2019re not going to be able to rely on testing (to track cases),\u201d said Jill Ryan, CDPHE executive director. \u201cPeople just are going to have to stay home when they\u2019re sick.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Koenemann said much the same thing, while appealing to residents to do their individual part to tamp down the virus\u2019 spread.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWe know that community spread is the next step,\u201d she said. \u201cI don\u2019t think we want to forget that everybody here in our community can be empowered to take their own actions (like washing hands or staying home if sick).<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cEverybody in the community has a role to play in that, from the individual to the organization to public health to first responders, and I really want to get that message clear, that we\u2019re all in this together right now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Health officials in Pitkin, Eagle and Garfield counties issued a joint public health order late Thursday night prohibiting events with more than 50 attendees effective immediately and lasting until at least April 8.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cNot only has COVID-19 presented in our tri-county region, but there has also been community trasmission between affected individuals,\u201d the news release stated. \u201cThe role of counties is to protect the health, safety and welfare of their citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Pitkin County public health officials said Thursday they did not yet have test results back from samples collected Wednesday from local residents and sent to the state lab in Denver. Two samples were collected at Aspen Valley Hospital, while 11 more were taken at an offsite testing facility, a deputy public health director said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Test results generally take 24 hours once they\u2019re received at the state lab, Koenemann said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">On Thursday, officials at another testing site set up at the Aspen Village fire station expected to collect between 20 and 30 more samples from \u201cindividuals in our vulnerable population\u201d that will be sent to Denver for testing, said Gabe Muething, Aspen Ambulance director and one of three heads of the local team managing Aspen\u2019s virus outbreak.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThis is not an open testing site for anyone to just drive through without an appointment and without prior screening,\u201d Muething said on the media call Thursday. \u201cThese individuals have all been screened prior to asking them to come to this testing site.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Testing at that site lasted only through Thursday afternoon. The Incident Management Team suspended testing at remote locations Thursday, after they had gone through the people at risk and in the vulnerable population who had been prescreened with symptoms, he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">It\u2019s an issue of resources here on the ground, as well as the capacity of the lab at the CDPHE, he said. Twelve people were screened Thursday, and when those people on the list were finished they shut down the operation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWe are taking a more focused approach,\u201d he said, adding that testing is valuable for those who are suffering from severe symptoms.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">No offsite testing is scheduled in the near future, he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWe did more community testing (Wednesday),\u201d Koenemann said. \u201cAnd so we\u2019re waiting to get those test results back and that will indicate to us that we have other people in our community (who are) positive.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The overall message from public health officials Thursday is that COVID-19 isn\u2019t likely to go away anytime soon.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWe do think this is going to be with us for a while,\u201d Ryan said. \u201cIt may slow down in the summer because, during warm months, diseases tend to thrive a little bit less than in winter \u2026<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cBut it could pick up again in the winter, so I wanted to set the expectation (that) we\u2019re in it for the long haul.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Tagline\"><a href=\"mailto:jauslander@aspentimes.com\">jauslander@aspentimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/aspen-area-resident-tests-pending-as-10th-aussie-case-confirmed\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A healthcare provider prepares to label a vial at the coronavirus testing location located at the Aspen Volunteer Fire Department\u2019s Aspen Village Location on Thursday, March 12, 2020. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times Healthcare providers perform a real-time test for Coronavirus on patients with appointments outside of the Aspen Volunteer Fire Department\u2019s Aspen [&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":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2455720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-18 10:47:50","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":"KSPN The Valley&#039;s Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2455720","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2455720"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2455720\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2455720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2455720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2455720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}