{"id":2456670,"date":"2020-04-02T18:08:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-03T00:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/pitkin-county-officials-rethink-community-testing-plan-want-to-be-strategic-thoughtful\/"},"modified":"2020-04-02T18:08:00","modified_gmt":"2020-04-03T00:08:00","slug":"pitkin-county-officials-rethink-community-testing-plan-want-to-be-strategic-thoughtful","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/pitkin-county-officials-rethink-community-testing-plan-want-to-be-strategic-thoughtful\/","title":{"rendered":"Pitkin County officials rethink community testing plan, want to be \u2018strategic, thoughtful\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image p402_hide\">\n<div class=\"caption-container\"> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"636\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/coronanumbers-atd-031320-3-1024x636.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-post-image\" alt srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/coronanumbers-atd-031320-3-1024x636.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/coronanumbers-atd-031320-3-300x186.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/coronanumbers-atd-031320-3-768x477.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/coronanumbers-atd-031320-3-1536x955.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/coronanumbers-atd-031320-3-2048x1273.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"><figcaption><strong>A health care 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.<\/strong><br \/><em>Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Though local residents have been asking and pushing for a broad-based, community-wide coronavirus testing program, Pitkin County public health officials are putting the brakes on the effort for the time being.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cAs we dig into it \u2026 there are some real challenges,\u201d Pitkin County Manager Jon Peacock said Thursday during a special regular meeting of the Board of County Commissioners. \u201cSo we\u2019re going to be taking a little bit of a step back to look at other vendors.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Peacock announced last week that the <a id=\"N0x1794120N0x1671be0:N0x1794120N0x181c660\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/new-pitkin-county-order-limits-business-and-asks-tourists-to-leave-area\/\">county had made contact<\/a> with an Englewood biotech company, which had recently received FDA approval for a COVID-19 test, and been put on a priority list for at least 1,000 tests. At the time, local public health officials felt the test would be ideal because it requires a finger prick rather than a nasal swab, making it easier and safer to collect, while it returns results quickly and on the spot.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">However, the company has provided no more information since then about when those tests might be delivered, Peacock said. Also further research by an Aspen Valley Hospital doctor about that finger prick test indicates that it also might react with other coronaviruses, thereby possibly providing false COVID-19 positives, he said.<\/p>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col\">\n<div class=\"row at-donation at-donation-mobile p-0\">\n<div class=\"col-xl-4 p-2\">\n<div data-bg=\"url(https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/AT-logo-white.png)\" class=\"p-0 mt-2 mb-2 h-75 text-center rocket-lazyload\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/AT-logo-white.png\" class=\"logo m-0 p-0 invisible\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-bg=\"url(https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/at-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.aspentimes.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<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThe specificity of the (Englewood company\u2019s) test is not what we originally thought,\u201d Peacock said Thursday. \u201cWe\u2019re still in line (to receive them) but we\u2019re exploring other options.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Unfortunately, those other options are not ideal either.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Many have cited the free <a id=\"N0x1794120N0x1671c40:N0x1794120N0x181c930\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sanmiguelcountyco.gov\/590\/Coronavirus\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">testing in San Miguel County<\/a><i class=\"fas fa-external-link-alt\"><\/i> as an example of something that might be done in Pitkin County. However, that test is, so far, not accepted by the FDA or the Colorado Department of Health and Environment, and may have its own issues, sources have said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">An AVH doctor who spoke <a id=\"N0x1794120N0x1671ca0:N0x1794120N0x181ca50\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/pitkin-county-lengthens-stay-at-home-order-to-april-30-limits-group-down-to-5-people\/\">Wednesday at a meeting<\/a> of the Pitkin County Board of Health said the San Miguel County antibody test may not pick up symptoms until seven days after they appear, while all 600 tests done so far in that county had come back negative, which stuck some as odd. Pitkin County Commissioner Greg Poschman cited that information Thursday and urged residents to remain calm on the issue of community testing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI know people are anxious,\u201d he said. \u201c(Local public health officials) are being very thorough in vetting all these tests.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Gabe Muething, Aspen Ambulance director and one of the commanders of the team managing the local coronavirus outbreak, said at Wednesday\u2019s meeting that Pitkin County is ready to plunk down cash for coronavirus tests when they find one that works for this community.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">But the bottomline is that all coronavirus tests have pros and cons and officials \u2014 with the help of AVH medical staff \u2014 need to \u201cstep back and match this urgency with facts\u201d to find the best one for Pitkin County, Peacock said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cIt seems like this is becoming more confusing,\u201d Commissioner George Newman said Thursday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">To help alleviate that issue, Pitkin County has hired an epidemiologist and a doctor, who previously worked for the Centers for Disease Control and has experience in virology, Peacock said. The two new temporary hires will help county public health officials further plan the <a id=\"N0x1794120N0x1671d00:N0x1794120N0x181cdb0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/coronavirus\/\">response to COVID-19<\/a>, including future tweaks to public health orders, how to unwind those orders when the time comes and how to go about community testing, he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">On that last question, the two new hires will help county officials determine the questions of why and how. Those purposes, for example, could be to track the disease and find out the extent to which the community is infected, track quarantine cases or continue testing solely for medical treatment, Peacock said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWe\u2019re trying to bring the best minds to the table for help with planning,\u201d he said. \u201cI wish I had 17,000 tests in a box next to me \u2026 but doing it right is important.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Other public health officials echoed that statement at Wednesday\u2019s Board of Health meeting.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWe\u2019re looking at all the testing options and trying to be strategic and thoughtful,\u201d Pitkin County Public Health Director Karen Koenemann said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Dr. Kimberly Levin, an emergency room doctor at Aspen Valley Hospital, said it could be dangerous to purchase the wrong test for community testing, which might yield high numbers of false positives and negatives and provide a false picture of the virus situation in Pitkin County.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThat\u2019s something to be extremely careful of,\u201d Levin said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The county\u2019s new coronavirus hires will be paid for using $350,000 in funds recently appropriated by county commissioners on an emergency basis, Peacock said. County officials asked the state for assistance, but were rebuffed, he said, and no assistance appears forthcoming from the federal government.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Peacock emphasized that officials understand both the need for community testing and the community\u2019s desire for it, and that they\u2019re working furiously in partnership with AVH doctors to identify the best option.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\"><a href=\"mailto:jauslander@aspentimes.com\">jauslander@aspentimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/pitkin-county-officials-rethink-community-testing-plan-want-to-be-strategic-thoughtful\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A health care 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 Though local residents have been asking and pushing for a broad-based, community-wide coronavirus testing program, Pitkin County public health officials are putting the [&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-2456670","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-18 06:33:46","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\/2456670","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=2456670"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2456670\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2456670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2456670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2456670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}