NOTE: This is the live blog from April 13. Click here for the live blog for Tuesday, April 14.
Almost 1,500 people in Colorado have been hospitalized after testing positive for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and 308 people have died as of Monday at 4 p.m.
In total, more than 37,000 people have been tested for the virus.
READ MORE: List of Colorado businesses that are open
Click here for the latest update on the number of cases, the age, gender and location of presumptive positive, indeterminate and confirmed cases from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
Below, we're updating this blog with the latest information regarding COVID-19 in Colorado.
Latest updates:
Monday, April 13
11:30 a.m. | CDPHE: Cases slowing, stay-at-home impact just beginning to show
State health officials Tuesday said COVID-19 cases in Colorado continue to slow — and are possibly even plateauing — as data modeling begins to reflect the impact of the stay-at-home order.
Rachel Herlihy, the state epidemiolgist, said officials were just starting to see the stay-at-home order issued March 25 reflect in case counts on Tuesday and likely over the next few days. Officials will work with data modeling experts this week to learn more about the stay-at-home order's impact.
Updated case totals weren't yet released on the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment's conference call Tuesday morning. The CDPHE released updated totals at 4 p.m. daily.
10:55 a.m. | Colorado health department issues preliminary look at COVID-19 demographic data
The COVID-19 disease is affecting Hispanic, African American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander Coloradans at higher rates proportionately than other ethnic groups here, according to preliminary data from the state department of public health and environment.
COVID-19 cases among Hispanic Coloradans comprise about 28% of the reported cases in the state though they make up about 22% of the state’s population, and about 7% of cases are among African American Coloradans despite making up just 4% of the state’s population.
Click here to read more.
6:45 p.m. | Bennet, Gardner press USDA to include Colorado farmers and ranchers in COVID-19 disaster relief
Sen. Michael Bennet, D-CO, and Cory Gardner, R-CO, have sent a letter urging the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to make sure the needs of Colorado's farmers, ranchers and rural communities are met as the agency allocates disaster relief funds from the Coronavirus Aid, Rlief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, as Colorado agriculture generates more than $40 billion in economic activity, providing over 170,000 jobs and supplying local, regional and international markets.
5:55 p.m. | 22 now death at Centennial Healthcare Center in Greeley
Twenty-two people at the Centennial Healthcare Center in Greeley have died and at least 17 of those tested positive for COVID-19, according to Annaliese Impink, a spokesperson for the facility. A total of 32 residents at the facility have tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
5:10 p.m. | Denver cases "leveling off" but more social distancing needed
Bob McDonald, executive director of Denver's Department of Public Health and Environment, said Monday that COVID-19 cases in the city are leveling off but emphasized the need for continued social distancing.
"I'm optimistically cautious about that," McDonald said. "To be this far into it and this many weeks, for it to be leveling off, I'm very excited and hopeful of that."
Through Monday, 1,346 cases had been identified in Denver. State officials, including Gov. Jared Polis, have said over the last week that the spread of COVID-19 has been slowed in Colorado.
In Denver, McDonald attributed the slow of the spread to aggressive social distancing and encouraged residents to cover their face while in public.
Still, echoing state officials, McDonald and Mayor Michael Hancock emphasized the importance of social distancing in coming weeks.
"The ket for us now is that we do see some daylight — this is not the time to let up," Hancock said. "The reality is: This is the time to stay home. My hope is that people don't let up but that they lean even harder and become more serious about staying home."
5:07 p.m. | Polis: We will begin releasing race, ethnicity data on reported cases of COVID-19
Gov. Jared Polis says the state will begin releasing all available race and ethnicity data on reported cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in the state following a request from more than 60 Colorado news organizations on calling for additional transparency regarding open records from state and local health officials and better datasets on the COVID-19 outbreak in the state.
5 p.m. | Security company staffing new temporary homeless shelter ends deal with Denver
Only 72 hours in, the security company that was staffing Denver's new temporary homeless shelter has ended its deal with the city, citing furloughs that will affect staffing.
The move came just as the Denver City Council on Monday night was expected to take up a $2.7 million contract through June for Argus to provide security services at the National Western Complex shelter during the COVID-19 crisis.
A Denver spokeswoman said Argus worked the shelter "without incident" before giving notice that it would be stopping services. The city "mobilized replacement resources to ensure there was no gap in services" at the shelter, the spokeswoman said.
In a statement, Argus said it was unable to continue staffing the shelter after having to furlough the majority of its employees Monday morning.
"Like many companies we are in the necessary spot of having to curtail expenses so we are not able to maintain that staff there," Andy Boian, an Argus spokesman, said in the statement.
4:53 p.m. | Colorado Wine Industry partners with the Colorado Restaurant Association
The Colorado Association for Viticulture & Enology (CAVE) says "many of Colorado's wineries" have partnered with the Colorado Restaurant Association (CRA) to provide aid to Colorado's restaurant employees and food and beverage hospitality workers who have been impacted as a result of the novel coronavirus.
4:48 p.m. | Park County to discuss closing roads to non-residents
The Park County Board of Commissioners will hold an administrative session on Thursday to discuss closing roads in the county to non-residents.
4:30 p.m. | Polis optimistic on reopening Colorado economy
Governor Jared Polis on Monday announced that his team is working on specific details to reopen Colorado’s economy.
“We are looking at the data every day to get the economy open as soon as possible,” Polis said during a press conference.
Polis appeared optimistic that the state’s economy might reopen before May 1, a possible reopening date that had been floated by officials in the federal government, including President Donald Trump.
“I think May 1 is still the operational date,” Polis said. “Colorado hopes to beat that by a couple days.”
The state’s stay-at-home order issued by Polis expires April 26, but details on how to move forward after that date will be released much earlier, the governor said Monday.
“We will have the details on that before the 26th,” Polis said. “And that will not be 10 p.m. on the 25th. We are talking about a few days before the 26th.”
The governor also addressed how he envisions the state dealing with future outbreaks in the months after Coloradans return to a “new normal.”
“Wherever there is (an outbreak) .... what will happen then is instead of the entire economy, the entire state quarantining, folks associated with that outbreak will be tested and quarantined,” Polis said.
Colorado also surpassed 300 deaths officially on Monday. Polis feels that the number could currently be much higher had the state not acted quickly.
“Three hundred is a reflection point because we acted quickly, because we acted boldly, because Coloradans are doing a good job staying home first and foremost,” Polis said. “Each death is a tragedy, but also, in this environment, is a tragic indication of our success in Colorado.”
4:19 p.m. | Eagle County reports sixth death from COVID-19
An Eagle County man in his 70s died of the novel coronavirus at a facility in Denver, the county's public health and environment reported Monday — the sixth death from the county, according to health officials. The county asks that everyone abide by the stay-at-home order, keep good hygiene and be mindful of strict social distancing requirements.
4:04 p.m. | COVID-19 deaths surpass 300 in Colorado
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment released an updated summery of COVID-19 in Colorado Monday.
The number of cases of the novel coronavirus in Colorado increased by 388, with the CDPHE announcing 7,691 people had tested positive as of 4 p.m. Monday.
A total of 76 more people were hospitalized, bringing the total of hospitalizations to 1,493. State health officials said 308 people have now died from the disease, an increase of 18 from Sunday’s numbers.
Four more outbreaks at long-term care facilities have been reported, bring the total number of outbreaks to 72 Monday.
The new virus is also now present in 56 of Colorado's 64 counties. The CDPHE said 1,589 more tests had been received by the state, bringing the total number of people who have been tested for COVID-19 to 38,742.
State health and government officials believe there could be between 12,000 and 33,000 cases of COVID-19 in Colorado, but are prioritizing testing for those who are most at-risk
3:38 p.m. | Boulder City Council to pilot virtual, informal chats with residents about COVID-19 updates
Boulder City Council is piloting virtual drop-in chats beginning Thursday, April 16 from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m., with more sessions to come later in April and in May. The effort is meant to provide an opportunity for residents to engage with their elected officials about issues that matter most to them during this challenging time.
1:56 p.m. | CU Boulder donates 130K pieces of PPE for health care workers
The University of Colorado Boulder donated more than 130,000 pieces of Personal protective equipment (PPE) to health care workers over the weekend. Dozens of departments, units and labs across campus donated gloves, N-95 masks, face shields, shoe covers and other PPE.
The donation went to the Boulder Office of Emergency Management (OEM), which will distribute the supplies to health care providers, long-term care facilities and first responders throughout the county.
The items donated were used throughout CU Boulder’s campus for research and other purposes from chemical labs to libraries.
12:28 p.m. | Polis holds press conference to provide update on COVID-19
Gov. Jared Polis held a press conference Monday to provide an update on the fight against COVID-19. He started by mentioning the update on the number of cases, hospitalizations, and deaths associated with COVID-19. There are now 7,684 positive cases, 1,472 total hospitalizations, and 304 deaths in Colorado.
Polis also discussed the JBS meatpacking plant in Greeley and announced that the plant would close indefinitely. The company announced Friday that it was closing the Greeley plant over the weekend through Tuesday to test employees and clean the facility. The decision came after two deaths related to COVID-19, and several workers tested positive for the virus.
Polis said he talked to Vice President Mike Pence over the weekend about the virus outbreak at the plant. Polis said the plant would remain closed past the original Tuesday deadline to facilitate cleaning and testing. The governor said he is not concerned about the plant's closure on the state's food supply since this will be a short-term closure. Testing for employees and will begin Tuesday.
The governor also said hospitals are seeing a decline in COVID-19 patients. Fifty-five additional patients were admitted to hospitals from Sunday to Monday, according to the partial update to Colorado's COVID-19 case data Polis provided at the beginning of the briefing.
8:48 a.m. | Polis announces he will update community on COVID-19
On Monday morning, Gov. Jared Polis said he plans to update residents on the state's response to COVID-19 and to take questions at 12:15 p.m. today.
6 a.m. | Happening today: Live town hall with the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment
Denver7 is holding a live town hall with experts and economists with the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment at 6:30 p.m. today. To submit a question, write to contact7@thedenverchannel.com or call 303-832-0676.
5 a.m. | Happening today: Denver City Council to vote on proclamation to ask Polis to cancel rent
On Monday night, Denver CIty Council will vote on a proclamation that will ask Gov. Jared Polis to cancel rent and mortgage payments since so many Coloradans are unemployed. They will vote at 5:30 p.m. The meeting can be viewed on Zoom with the password “Denver” here: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Wk8pB9mJSeWSytgu9VbGvQ.
Click here for the live blog from Saturday and Sunday, April 11-12, 2020.
