Boulder County reports 65 new coronavirus cases, no new deaths, 7 new outbreaks

Dec. 25—Boulder County on Thursday reported 65 new coronavirus cases, but no new deaths. An updated state report also showed seven new outbreaks in Boulder County.

To date, Boulder County Public Health has reported 14,110 positive or probable cases. The death toll remained at 174. There have been 402 people hospitalized. As of Wednesday, there were 68 people in the hospital. The county doesn't plan to update its coronavirus dashboard on Friday, according to the county's website.

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment reported that the seven new outbreaks were at the Boulder County Jail; two Imagine! Longmont host homes; Superior Kids Care; The Academy Bella Vista, The Cottage School and PowerBack Rehabilitation, though, a spokesperson with the rehabilitation facility said there are no current COVID-19 cases.

The Boulder County Jail outbreak was reported Monday, according to state data. The state's report shows 11 residents and seven staff members tested positive for the virus. Melanie Dreiling, the jail's health services administrator, said in an email Thursday that there were 29 inmates who currently have COVID-19.

"We tested all inmates who may have been exposed, isolated all positive cases and moved all negative cases to their own module where they are isolated from one another during quarantine," Dreiling said during a Wednesday interview.

The Imagine! Longmont Host Home Charles and Imagine Longmont Host Home Mason had outbreaks determined on Tuesday, according to the state. Imagine! provides host home services for people with developmental disabilities, according to its website. At the Charles home, six residents and three staff members tested positive for the virus, state data showed. At the Mason home, there were four residents who tested positive, according to the state. Imagine! didn't respond to request for comment by publication deadline.

At PowerBack Rehabilitation in Lafayette, Lori Mayer, facility spokesperson, said in an email Thursday that there are currently no COVID-19 cases at the facility. PowerBack Rehabilitation provides rehabilitation services for patients leaving the hospital, who are not yet ready to transition back home.

In response to the Camera's inquiry, the Colorado State Joint Information Center released a statement saying that "PowerBack Rehabilitation is listed as a confirmed outbreak on our website. An outbreak is defined as two or more people who are confirmed cases of COVID-19 in a workplace or facility with onset within 14 days."

The state's data said the outbreak was determined Tuesday and that one resident and two staff members tested positive for the virus. Sixteen residents and six staff members are considered probable for the virus, according to the data.

State data also showed that PowerBack Rehabilitation, 329 Exempla Circle, had an outbreak in April that was resolved in July and an outbreak in August that was resolved in September.

The outbreak at Superior Kid Care, a home-based child care center, was determined Tuesday, state data showed. The report said two staff members tested positive.

Victoria Funk, owner and director of the child care center, confirmed that two staff members had tested positive.

"As soon as we knew one of the parents was exposed to COVID-19, the children were immediately kept at home," Funk said in a Thursday phone interview. "Once they tested positive, we shut down completely. We followed all CDPHE guidance and disinfected heavily. Fortunately, we were able to curb the outbreak to only the one family that tested positive. All the other families I care for have all tested negative."

Funk said the business has remained closed with the possibility of it re-opening at the beginning of the year.

The outbreak at The Academy at Bella Vista was determined on Wednesday, the state report showed. One resident and three staff members tested positive for the virus, according to the state.

Ande Bernthal, academy marketing director, released a statement saying that the assisted living and memory care community has had three staff and one resident test positive for COVID-19 in the past nine months.

"One resident and one of the staff tested positive in the Dec. 15 community-wide testing," the statement read. "Both the employee and the resident remain asymptomatic and are doing very well. The two other staff positive tests were April 25 and Nov. 20."

The statement also said:

"Bella Vista has been and is following all guidelines of CDPHE and (Boulder County Public Health) for the safety and well-being of its residents and staff as well as testing the community every three days. Since the Dec. 15 testing, all test results of staff and residents have been negative for COVID-19. Michelle Belochi, executive director of Bella Vista, is grateful to BCPH representatives for their support and to the residents, families and staff for their continued and successful efforts in keeping Bella Vista safe."

The Cottage School's outbreak was determined on Tuesday, according to the state. One staff member and one resident tested positive, state data showed. Leaders at the preschool and child care center, 1941 Terry St. in Longmont, didn't respond to a request for comment before deadline.

While not a new outbreak, state data also showed an outbreak at Niles Family Dentistry that was determined on Dec. 7. In the Camera's comparison of the past three weeks worth of outbreak reports, the Niwot dentistry, 136 Second Ave. in Niwot, wasn't among the outbreaks listed, until this week.

State data shows two staff members tested positive for the virus. The dentistry didn't respond to a request for comment before deadline. The state also didn't respond to a request for comment.

The county has 48 active outbreaks, the state's report shows.

The University of Colorado Boulder reported that the five positive tests were among 153 diagnostic tests taken Wednesday. The university also took 486 monitoring tests. There was no campus isolation space in use. Since the start of the school year on Aug. 24, the university has reported 1,725 positive test results. The campus has also performed a total of 16,067 diagnostic tests and 74,267 monitoring tests.

Boulder Valley School District reported on its online coronavirus dashboard that there are three positive cases; two probable cases and one active case at the Boulder Transportation Terminal.

St. Vrain Valley School District reported that it will be updating its online coronavirus dashboard on Mondays during winter break, which ends Jan. 5. The district's weekly update shows that there are 24 active cases, split between 13 students and 11 staff. There have been a total of 542 positive cases, with 376 students confirmed positive and 166 staff.

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment reported that there have been 319,530 cases statewide. Among cases, there have been 4,550 deaths, and of those, 3,605 deaths because of COVID-19. There have been 17,793 people hospitalized. Of Colorado's roughly 5.7 million people, there have been 2,083,547 people tested.

___

(c)2020 the Daily Times-Call (Longmont, Colo.)

Visit the Daily Times-Call (Longmont, Colo.) at www.timescall.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.