{"id":2457012,"date":"2020-04-10T00:48:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-10T06:48:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/pitkin-county-public-health-department-obtains-1000-covid-19-antibody-tests-for-community-use-in-aspen-area\/"},"modified":"2020-04-10T07:57:19","modified_gmt":"2020-04-10T13:57:19","slug":"pitkin-county-public-health-department-obtains-1000-covid-19-antibody-tests-for-community-use-in-aspen-area","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/pitkin-county-public-health-department-obtains-1000-covid-19-antibody-tests-for-community-use-in-aspen-area\/","title":{"rendered":"Pitkin County Public Health Department obtains 1,000 COVID-19 antibody tests for community use in Aspen area"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText DropCap\">The Pitkin County Public Health Department has obtained 1,000 COVID-19 antibody tests, which are expected to determine whether the infection is in a person\u2019s body or has been.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThis test will allow us to get the epidemiological data that we\u2019ve been looking for,\u201d Gabe Muething, unified commander for the county\u2019s incident management team and the director of the Aspen Ambulance District, said during a <a id=\"N0x1636c50N0x17691e0:N0x1636c50N0x164ba98\" href=\"https:\/\/pitkincounty.ompnetwork.org\/embed\/sessions\/132057\/covid-19-public-meeting-04-09-2020\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">virtual community meeting Thursday afternoon<\/a><i class=\"fas fa-external-link-alt\"><\/i>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Once the tests are validated for accuracy and criteria is established by the public health department\u2019s medical team of whom should be tested, the tests will be given to community members for free.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">That could happen within the next week, Muething 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\">\u201cIt is really a test that we see the most accuracy out of it when somebody is seven to 10 or seven to 14 days post-start of their infections, so there is a window of testing that we have here, that we\u2019d like to enact,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ll get back to everybody on exactly how we\u2019ll put people in those categories to be able to get the test and roll it out into the community.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Muething stressed that these tests are not the same ones that are being used medically by Aspen Valley Hospital. Those tests are done with a swab and are reserved for the most severe cases and those in the vulnerable population.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The new test looks for antibodies in the blood, rather than the virus in the nose or throat.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cIt would take a huge amount of testing to be able to define that, or to definitively say that we have immunity in our area, but with the amount of tests that we have and the type of tests we have, will at least allow us a glimpse into whether or not we have the start of immunity in our area,\u201d Muething said, adding the test results are to be used as a data point for epidemiological information.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Combine that with the county\u2019s symptom tracker and AVH\u2019s capacity data, and that will help guide the incident management team with modeling the spread of the virus in the community.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Muething said one of the goals with the new testing is to see if the results mirror local suppression efforts with public health orders of staying at home and social distancing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cIt\u2019s not the silver bullet\u201d that will lift public health orders that remain in effect for at least the rest of the month, Muething said. \u201cThank you for bearing with us. \u2026 We realize it\u2019s been a <a id=\"N0x1636c50N0x1769300:N0x1636c50N0x164c038\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/pitkin-county-officials-rethink-community-testing-plan-want-to-be-strategic-thoughtful\/\">difficult process waiting for something like this to come<\/a>. \u2026 We\u2019re excited to be able to help the community out with it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Through Wednesday, Pitkin County has reported 39 positive cases and two Aspen men have died since the first county case was reported March 8, according to the <a id=\"N0x1636c50N0x1769360:N0x1636c50N0x164c158\" href=\"https:\/\/covid19.colorado.gov\/case-data\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">daily update Thursday<\/a><i class=\"fas fa-external-link-alt\"><\/i> from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. There have been 6,202 positive cases and 226 deaths in the state, the CDPHE report states.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">It also was announced during Thursday\u2019s community meeting that anyone who rides a Roaring Fork Transportation Authority bus must wear a face covering or mask. The mandate, which came Thursday morning from the RFTA board, begins Monday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Pitkin County Public Health Department is recommending that people wear cloth masks (not surgical ones that should be saved for medical personnel) when they are outside of their homes and in places where social distancing 6 feet apart from one another could be difficult. Also, RFTA is not allowing more than nine passengers on a bus at one time.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWhat we\u2019ve learned as we continue to learn about this virus spreading throughout the country is that people can be pre-symptomatic or asymptomatic, and so the purpose of wearing a cloth mask is to cover your nose and mouth, and it\u2019s to protect others,\u201d said Pitkin County Public Health Director Karen Koenemann, who also is on the incident management team.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The health department is expected to vote on the mask recommendation next week during its board meeting.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Officials point to a <a id=\"N0x1636c50N0x17693c0:N0x1636c50N0x164c4b8\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=wLG-MVgSAgE&amp;list=PLnSvysX88MPxTKz5PiXP2ept3EYYAPxPO&amp;index=3&amp;t=0s\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">video <\/a><i class=\"fas fa-external-link-alt\"><\/i>on the county\u2019s website and the <a id=\"N0x1636c50N0x1769420:N0x1636c50N0x164c548\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Centers for Disease Control<\/a><i class=\"fas fa-external-link-alt\"><\/i> on how to wear a mask and what to do with it when done wearing it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Koenemann said it\u2019s important not to touch the front of the mask, don\u2019t pull it down to speak or eat, and it should fit tight around the face.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThink about your mask like underwear, that it should be washed after every use,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Tagline\"><a href=\"mailto:csackariason@aspentimes.com\">csackariason@aspentimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/local\/pitkin-county-public-health-department-obtains-1000-covid-19-antibody-tests-for-community-use-in-aspen-area\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Pitkin County Public Health Department has obtained 1,000 COVID-19 antibody tests, which are expected to determine whether the infection is in a person\u2019s body or has been. \u201cThis test will allow us to get the epidemiological data that we\u2019ve been looking for,\u201d Gabe Muething, unified commander for the county\u2019s incident management team and 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-2457012","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-18 05:00:51","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\/2457012","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=2457012"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2457012\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2457018,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2457012\/revisions\/2457018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2457012"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2457012"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2457012"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}