CROWLEY COUNTY, Colo. – An “elderly” resident of Crowley County who had several chronic medical conditions is the fourth known death from the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Colorado, county health officials said Thursday afternoon.
The Otero County Health Department issued the notice about the resident who had died and tested presumptive positive for COVID-19. The county only said the patient lived in Crowley County, was elderly and “had other multiple, chronic medical conditions, was in the high risk group.”
Coronavirus in Colorado: Latest COVID-19 updates across the state
Richard Ritter, the Executive Director of the Otero County Health Department, said members of his department were in Crowley County doing contact investigations. He said, “quarantine is being ordered as I write this.”
“I am committed to being transparent to the communities in Crowley and Otero Counties, so that is why I am releasing this before confirmatory testing, which could be many days away due to severe laboratory overload,” Ritter said.
The counties have a phone line – 719-383-3050 – available between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday-Friday to answer residents’ questions. Anyone who gets to the voicemail should leave a message and will be called back.
Crowley County sits east of Pueblo in southeastern Colorado.
The death is the second reported in Colorado so far on Thursday. Earlier in the day, El Paso County said a man in his 60s, who had contact with an El Paso County woman in her 80s who died of the virus, had also died as a result of COVID-19.
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment updated the numbers on its COVID-19 site at 4 p.m., though it does not include the two deaths reported in El Paso and Crowley counties Thursday.
According to the CDPHE, as of 4 p.m., the data is as stands:
277 cases
38 hospitalized
22 counties
2,952 people tested
Eagle (51) and Denver (49) counties are seeing the highest number of cases, those testing has been prioritized in those areas. Jefferson County has 36 cases and Arapahoe County has 22 cases, according to the state.
The increased numbers in comparison to the numbers released Wednesday: 61 new cases; 12 new hospitalizations; 2 new counties; 614 more test results back.
Click here for the latest on COVID-19 in Colorado.
