As COVID-19 surges once again across the country, Chaffee County is experiencing its own uptick with case rates that are double of what was seen last summer at this time and a percent positivity rate that is the highest it has been in months.

An overwhelming trend has been that the majority of new cases are those who are unvaccinated, and the local healthcare system is seeing an increase in COVID-19 patients.

Due to new information related to the Delta variant, which is demonstrating to be several times more transmissible and potentially more severe in adults and children than previous strains, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released recommendations on July 27th that will hopefully slow the spread of this deadly virus.

Chaffee County Public Health (CCPH) would like everyone to consider following the CDC guidance whenever the county is listed as substantial or high risk. As of today, it is considered a “high risk” county by the CDC and therefore, should be following the CDC recommendations.

Updates to CDC guidance include:

· Updated information for fully vaccinated people given new evidence on the B.1.617.2 (Delta) variant currently circulating in the United States.

· Added a recommendation for fully vaccinated people to wear a mask in public indoor settings in areas of substantial or high transmission.

· Added information that fully vaccinated people might choose to wear a mask regardless of the level of transmission, particularly if they are immunocompromised or at increased risk for severe disease from COVID-19, or if they have someone in their household who is immunocompromised, at increased risk of severe disease or not fully vaccinated.

· Added a recommendation for fully vaccinated people who have come into close contact with someone with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 to be tested 3-5 days after exposure, and to wear a mask in public indoor settings for 14 days or until they receive a negative test result.

· CDC recommends universal indoor masking for all teachers, staff, students, and visitors to schools, regardless of vaccination status.

In order to align with these changes, CCPH will be amending and extending its local public health order 2020–08 – AMENDMENT 24 to urge the residents and visitors of Chaffee County to use their personal accountability, responsibility, and discretion on following these strong recommendations. At this time, CCPH and the Chaffee County Board of Health do not intend on requiring universal mask wearing through a mandate. However, as incidence and severity of positive cases increase, they will be monitoring if greater mitigation measures are necessary. The amended order will go into effect on August 9th and be extended at least through September 30th, 2021.

“Over the past year and a half, CCPH, the Chaffee County Board of Health, and local partners have collaboratively leveraged all of the public health mitigation and prevention strategies to overcome COVID-19 so that our economy could thrive and schools could return to in-person learning. We must protect our investment. However, it doesn’t take a scientist or epidemiologist to see that we are very much still in a global pandemic although we had been making great strides in controlling the impact of COVID-19, especially with the availability of the vaccine for those 12 and older. Unfortunately, until we can get more people vaccinated, some of the strategies we know have worked, such as mask wearing, are here to stay- for now. We are also hearing that some people want to get the vaccine but are afraid of their family and friends knowing that they got it. Primary care providers are starting to offer free and confidential COVID-19 vaccinations, so we encourage those who are eligible to seek out the support of their trusted healthcare provider if not CCPH or another provider,” says Andrea Carlstrom, CCPH Director.

Meanwhile, CCPH is ramping up its testing, vaccination, and investigation capacity in anticipation of a dynamic fall. It will also be modifying its local dashboard to include more vaccination and breakthrough case data to make it more relevant. As changes occur, CCPH will explain why the changes were made and alternative sources to track down requested information. As a reminder, there is a weekly situational awareness report that gets posted on the Chaffee County website at www.chaffeecounty.org and on the Chaffee County COVID-19 Facebook page. Direct questions can be e-mailed at health@chaffeecounty.org or by calling 719-539-4510, but CCPH encourages the public to search out the answers using the resources provided first. The Chaffee County COVID-19 data dashboard can be found at: https://datastudio.google.com/u/0/reporting/51ff040d-f850-4a41-ade1-f9cbf1bd8bc4/page/zPEZB. To make a vaccine appointment, call 719-539-4510. Vaccinations are readily available throughout the county.