The number of Boulder County residents who have tested positive for the novel coronavirus has jumped to 27, officials said Friday, as state officials underscored the critical importance of following public safety directives.

Boulder County Public Health spokesperson Chana Goussetis said that as of 3 p.m. Friday, 27 had tested positive for COVID-19, up from the 19 that had been reported early Friday.

Of those first 19 cases in the county, four had recovered and 14 are recovering at home. Only one of the first 19 had been hospitalized, but that person, too, is now recovering at their residence.

Goussetis did not immediately know the status of the most recently identified eight cases, in terms of whether any of those patients had been, or are, hospitalized.

The 27 county residents who contracted the virus range in age from their teens to their 70s.

Statewide, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, there are 363 confirmed cases in 24 counties, with 44 people hospitalized with the coronavirus and four deaths. A total of 3,680 people have been tested, the state reported. Those numbers represent a lag behind the true current numbers, however, in part because they do not immediately reflect results of private testing.

Officials from the Attorney General’s Office, CDPHE and the Colorado Department of Public Safety late Friday urged residents to exercise civic and personal responsibility and voluntarily comply a public health order issued earlier this week, which closed bars, restaurants, theaters, gyms, casinos, nonessential personal services facilities, as well as horse track and off-track betting facilities statewide.

It went into full effect Thursday, and remains in effect until April 30, unless it is extended in writing by the executive director. Leaders from these state agencies, however, said they will use their authority under state law to enforce the order when necessary and appropriate.

“The State has taken decisive action to protect Coloradans from the spread of COVID-19. We understand that residents may feel anxious or frustrated by limits on gatherings or closures of businesses and institutions around the state,” said Attorney General Phil Weiser, in a statement. “Our expectation is that residents will respect their fellow Coloradans, use good judgment and follow the public health order. When necessary and appropriate, however, we will work with our state and local law enforcement partners to ensure that residents obey the order.”

“The gravity of the public health orders are appropriate for the gravity of this situation,” Jill Hunsaker Ryan, executive director of CDPHE, said in a statement. “The transmission of COVID-19 is an event unlike anything we have seen and we must take dramatic precautions to save lives.

“The State has taken decisive action to protect Coloradans from the spread of COVID-19. We understand that residents may feel anxious or frustrated by limits on gatherings or closures of businesses and institutions around the state.”

Reporting of cases ‘slower’

Meanwhile, a statement from the CDPHE COVID-19 media team on Friday addressed the delay in the most current patient numbers being available.

“Based on the high volume of cases statewide, state epidemiologists need at least 24 hours to review and perform quality control checks on data before it is published in order to ensure that what we are publishing is as accurate as possible. This timeline for case reporting is in line with current CDC practices and similar to how most other states are reporting cases,” it said.

“We recognize that the speed with which we report case outcomes is slower than during the first days of this outbreak in Colorado. The process we were using to release information on a handful of cases per day at the start of this outbreak is not scalable to the hundreds of tests we are now processing. We still aim to release data to the public as soon as possible, but accuracy comes first. There is no benefit to the public in releasing inaccurate information.”

Additionally, the statement noted, “Demographic information tied to each case comes to the state via a variety of different mechanisms, depending on the type of provider testing patients. Some providers submit information via electronic medical records systems, others via fax or phone call.”

The latest numbers come amid reports of widespread shortages across the nation of protective gear for health care workers and Gov. Gavin Newsom’s declaration in California that all its 40 million residents should stay at home as much as possible for the next four weeks. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo followed suit this morning, with CNN reporting that means now one in five Americans are now subject to such orders.

Testing resources expanded

CDPHE also announced Friday that it is sending testing resources to specific communities that have not yet had testing, which will produce vital information about how COVID-19 is spreading. State health officials are also strongly advising the public that those who have symptoms such as fever, cough, and shortness of breath should not wait for a test to self-isolate.

The state is expanding testing to include a temporary drive-through site in Chaffee County on Saturday, with the Colorado National Guard and Chaffee County Public Health are supporting those efforts. CDPHE also plans to send testing resources to other locations next week.

State health officials again emphasized that people with mild symptoms should stay home and avoid contact with others. People should call their health care provider only if their illness becomes more severe, especially if you are experiencing shortness of breath. Those with a medical emergency should call 911 and report their symptoms.

Those who are not at high risk of severe illness may not need to be evaluated in person or tested for COVID-19. Not everyone with symptoms will be tested right away.

People can also stay on top of the coronavirus situation in Colorado by going to covid19.colorado.gov.

A glimmer of good news for some, perhaps, came mid-morning today when President Donald Trump announced the federal tax deadline has been bumped to July 15.