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Colorado coronavirus latest, June 3: Weld County jail to test every inmate for COVID-19

The Weld County Sheriff's Office said 10 inmates at the jail and 18 deputies have tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

COLORADO, USA — Each inmate at the Weld County jail will be tested for COVID-19, the sheriff's office announced Wednesday. This comes after 10 inmates tested positive, as well as 18 jail deputies. 

The Brighton City Council has voted to not open the Brighton Oasis Family Aquatic Park for a shorter season and with limited capacity in summer 2020.

Earlier this week it was announced that parks, playgrounds and outdoor pools can reopen soon but with restrictions. The state has drafted guidelines on what those reopening might look like and is asking for feedback on the proposals.

Colorado Springs' Mountain Metropolitan Transit is suspending two bus routes in order to move drivers to overcrowded routes.

Those are among the coronavirus updates for the state on Wednesday. More details are below, and we'll continue to post information as it comes in throughout the day.

WHAT TO KNOW RIGHT NOW

  • 26,788 cases, up from 26,577 the day prior. 
  • 4,419 hospitalized, up from 4,372 the day prior.
  • 1,474 deaths among those who tested positive for COVID-19, up from 1,458 the day prior.
  • 1,228 deaths due to COVID-19, up from 1,185 the day prior.
  • Get the latest data from the Colorado Dept. of Public Health & Environment (CDPHE).
  • Polis said restaurants can reopen to in-person dining last week, with strict regulations in place. Day camps and youth sports camps could reopen June 1.
  • Polis extended the state's safer-at-home order to July 1.

Click/tap here to read updates from June 2

Weld County jail to test all inmates for COVID-19 

The Weld County Sheriff’s Office has begun testing all of the inmates at the county jail for COVID-19, according to a news release distributed Wednesday afternoon.

It will take roughly two days to test all 468 inmates at the jail, and testing of new arrestees will be ongoing, the sheriff’s office said.

Inmates who test positive for the novel coronavirus will be medically isolated and must receive two negative tests in a row to return to the general inmate population.

A total of 10 inmates at the Weld County jail have tested positive for COVID-19 since March, and the sheriff’s office said three of them are believed to have already had the virus before they were taken into custody.

Two of the COVID-19 positive inmates remain in the Weld County jail.

In addition, 18 jail deputies have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, and all have returned to work.

Despite this, the sheriff’s office said the widespread testing will be limited to inmates, and employees are encouraged to seek out testing on their own.

Some Brighton city buildings to reopen; Aquatic park will not open

Brighton City Council has voted to reopen Brighton City Hall and Historic City Hall on Monday, June 8. The buildings have been closed to the public since March 16.

All City of Brighton employees are required to wear a face covering while in public areas, take their temperature upon entering city buildings and practice social distancing measures where appropriate. Sneeze guards have been installed at all customer services counters and disinfectants, extra towels and spray disinfectants are ready in communal spaces.

The council also voted to not open the Brighton Oasis Family Aquatic Park for a shorter season and with limited capacity in 2020.

Other Brighton facilities will remain closed until further guidance including the Eagle View Adult Center, Brighton Recreation Center and the Armory Performing Arts Center.

Guidelines for outdoor personal recreation

Parks, playgrounds, and outdoor pools can reopen soon but with restrictions under the amended "safer-at-home and in the vast, great outdoors" public health order that was announced earlier this week. Youth sports can also resume.

No dates have been set in stone and the state has asked for feedback on draft guidelines from the public which will be accepted through noon.

Click/tap here to provide feedback through noon Wednesday.

They include limiting groups to 10 or fewer places at playgrounds and on basketball courts. Pools would be limited to 50% capacity or 50 people whichever is less.

Click/tap here to read the proposed guidelines.

RELATED: What will it look like when swimming pools reopen in Colorado?

Colorado Springs bus changes due to overcrowding

The City of Colorado Springs' Mountain Metro bus service is experiencing overcrowding on some buses, according to the city.

In an effort to alleviate the overcrowding and to meet the El Paso County Health Department’s guidance for social distancing, two "very low ridership routes" will be temporarily suspended beginning Monday, June 8 and those buses and drivers will be used on the routes that are experiencing overcrowding.

Suspended routes include Route #18 and Route #38.

Coronavirus cases in Colorado

CDPHE on May 15 changed the way it was reporting data in two ways:

  • The number of deaths among people with COVID-19. This represents the total number of deaths reported among people who have COVID-19, but COVID-19 may not have been the cause of death listed on the death certificate. This information is required by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and is crucial for public health surveillance, as it provides more information about disease transmission and can help identify risk factors among all deaths across populations.
  • The number of deaths among people who died from COVID-19: This represents the total number of people whose death was attributed to COVID-19 as indicated on a death certificate. This number is determined by the CDC and is updated daily for dates through the previous Saturday.

In Colorado, CDPHE reports 26,098 people have tested positive for the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, up from 25,613 the day prior.

Fatalities

CDPHE reports:

  • 1,474 deaths among people with COVID-19
  • 1,228 deaths due to COVID-19

The day prior, 1,458 people had died, 1,185 from COVID-19.

The majority of deaths — 54% — are among people over age 80; 23% of deaths occurred in people between ages 70-79 and 13% were in people ages 60-69.

The graph below shows the total number of people in Colorado who have died after a COVID-19 diagnosis, since the first death happened on March 13.

Hospitalizations

Of those who tested positive for the disease, a total of 4,419 hospitalizations have been reported, up from 4,333 the day prior.

As of 1:41 p.m. on June 2, 308 patients were hospitalized with the disease, according to the most recent data from the Colorado Hospital Association. Within the last 24 hours, 23 patients have been transferred or discharged.

Note: 92% of facilities reported data on June 2. 

This graph below shows the number of people currently hospitalized with a COVID-19 diagnosis and the number of people who have been discharged within 24 hours. This is a key metric because it can be an indicator of whether or not Colorado’s hospital system is being overwhelmed by the virus.

Testing

According to CDPHE, 190,700 people have been tested, up from 178,196 the day prior, and 60 counties are reporting cases, the same number as the day before.

This graph below shows the number of tests the state processed in a day. This is another key metric because the state’s ability to reopen will depend on the number of tests Colorado can run each day. As testing improves, the number of cases will rise because the more tests that are conducted, the more cases will be found.

Positivity is the number of tests that come back with a COVID-19 result. Above 10% could be an indicator that not enough testing is being done and that only people likely to have COVID are getting tested.

Please note that there may be a lull or spike in reported case data due to how it's reported. CDPHE data changes as labs, hospitals, facilities and local agencies report their own data. For example, a spike in the number of deaths does not necessarily mean that many more people died within 24 hours, but rather is indicative of when the data is entered into the system. New data is released daily at 4 p.m.

> See the latest numbers from the state health department.

COVID-19 is a disease caused by a virus that first appeared in Wuhan, China, in late 2019. Symptoms of COVID-19 can include fever, cough and breathing trouble. Most patients develop only mild symptoms. But some people, usually those with other medical complications, develop more severe symptoms, including pneumonia, which can be fatal.

RELATED: The specifics of each Colorado county's safer-at-home orders

RELATED: FAQ: Dr. Kohli answers your questions about the coronavirus

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