4:01 p.m. — More and more health care workers are starting to test positive for COVID-19

Hart Van Denburg/CPR News Colorado Gov. Jared Polis and University of Colorado pulmonologist Dr. Marc Moss speak to reporters Monday, March 30, 2020, at South Metro Fire Rescue headquarters in Centennial about the state’s progress in halting the spread of coronavirus. The chart shows the cumulative cases.

Colorado health care professionals are working long hours in difficult conditions and starting to come down with COVID-19 themselves as the disease continues to spread in the state.

“We know that our medical workers [are] putting themselves at risk of exposure every day, working double shifts,” Gov. Jared Polis said Monday from the state’s emergency operations center. “You are really in the frontlines of making a sacrifice to save lives.”

While Colorado now sees indicators that stay-at-home orders, business closures and other social distancing guidance are having an appreciable effect, health care professionals are still preparing for a bigger public health crisis. They continue to push for more protective equipment and note that patients are still being admitted to hospitals at a faster rate than they are recovering.

Dr. Marc Moss, the head of pulmonology at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, said they are treating “an unprecedented number of critically ill patients” at his hospital — which has also created another risk.

“We are unfortunately starting to see health care professionals test positive for the coronavirus,” Moss said. “This is not only devastating to these medical professionals and their families, [but] it hampers our entire response because it sidelines critical medical staff at a time when we need them the most.”

Hart Van Denburg/CPR News Colorado Gov. Jared Polis and University of Colorado pulmonologist Dr. Marc Moss speak to reporters Monday, March 30, 2020, at South Metro Fire Rescue headquarters in Centennial about the state’s progress in halting the spread of coronavirus.

Moss then told the story of a colleague, a critical care physician who started to feel sick a few weeks ago at the very beginning of the outbreak. The intensive care unit doctor started to feel the symptoms of COVID-19, self-isolated herself and eventually tested positive. She’s now fully recovered and repeatedly asked Moss when she can get back to work.

“Why do we take these personal risks?” Moss said. “It's because it's a privilege and an honor to care for patients.”

His colleague is scheduled to be back at work next week, he said.

— Jim Hill

3:49 p.m. — Casa Bonita employees say their paychecks are bouncing

Alex Scoville/CPR News A mural in the Casa Bonita dressing room for entertainers shows Chiquita the gorilla and a trainer in pursuit.

As restaurants and bars across the state struggle under various restrictions enacted due to the COVID-19 outbreak, four Casa Bonita employees told CPR News their latest paychecks have bounced.

They all provided CPR bank statements and pictures of checks.

The workers, who did not want to be named, are accruing bank fees as a result. They say they are not alone, and management isn’t answering their questions.

“Employees are struggling to buy groceries and pay rent because of this. A lot of us live paycheck to paycheck, and it's disheartening to have this happen when so many other businesses are currently struggling to find creative ways to keep their staff paid,” said one employee of almost six years.

The same worker said he knows of more than two dozen employees whose checks have also bounced.

Casa Bonita employs more than 100 people.

CPR News’ voicemails and emails to the corporate office in Scottsdale, Ariz., and to the local general manager have gone unreturned.

In accordance with the state’s order, Casa Bonita is closed to reduce the spread of COVID-19. It is not offering takeout service.

In 2011, the restaurant’s parent company Star Buffet, Inc. filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

— Ryan Warner

3:37 p.m. — RTD's Access-a-Ride will now deliver groceries

Courtesy RTD An RTD Access-A-Ride shuttle.

With fewer people using RTD's Access-a-Ride to get around town, the paratransit service is switching it up.

Access-a-Ride users can now call the service for grocery delivery. No fare will be charged for the service.

“We are well aware that during a state of emergency, one of the first things people can lose access to is food,” said Paul Hamilton, senior manager of paratransit services, in a statement. “When the public is being told to reduce their exposure to others, the last thing we want to do is ask them to leave their homes if they don’t have to. We are pleased to help our customers where they are, and we appreciate the grocers and food banks that are working with us to provide people with this crucial service.”

Access-a-Ride will pick up groceries from King Sooper and Safeway locations, as well as the Community Ministry Southwest food bank, Senior Hub Senior Solutions and Adams County Food Bank. Additional grocers and nonprofits may continue to sign on.

Customers will have to call the store or food bank first to set up an order and pick-up time, then phone Access-a-Ride to coordinate.

Full details can be found on RTD's website.

— Alex Scoville

2:58 p.m. — Colorado wants to more than quadruple the number of ICU beds in the state

The Colorado State Emergency Operations Center is collaborating with a bunch of hospitals, agencies and public health offices to add more than 6,000 intensive care unit beds across the state by summer.

The center estimates that Colorado currently has about 1,849 ICU beds. The state wants to add 1,000 more by May and 5,000 on top of that by summer.

In the meantime, hospitals are prioritizing which patients get access to ICU beds and transferring as needed to accommodate the wave of COVID-19 patients.

— Alex Scoville

2:39 p.m. — Need more Polis time? He'll be at Rep. Joe Neguse's virtual town hall tonight

Rep. Joe Neguse is hosting two town halls on Monday and Tuesday nights to answer questions about the federal stimulus package.

Both events have pretty stacked guests lists, including the governor on Monday. Various state lawmakers, mayors and health officials will attend both nights. See the full lists here.

Constituents can register for both town halls here.

— Alex Scoville

12:46 p.m. — Partial update on case count, deaths and more

At Gov. Jared Polis's press conference on March 30, 2020, Dr. Marc Moss, Vice Chair for Clinical Research in Pulmonary Sciences and Critical Care Medicine at the University of Colorado Hospital talks to reporters about the spread of coronavirus.

At a press conference this afternoon, Gov. Jared Polis revealed a partial update on the number of hospitalizations, cases identified and deaths recorded in the COVID-19 outbreak in Colorado. Official data is updated at 4 p.m. each day at covid19.colorado.gov/case-data.

2,627 cases

414 hospitalizations

47 counties with at least one case identified

51 deaths

Polis also revealed today that Colorado has had its first two deaths from complications of COVID-19 in people under the age of 40.

Editor's Note: Due to an error in the governor's press conference, a previous version of this blog entry misstated the number of people under 40 who have died due to COVID-19. It is two, not one.

— Daniel J. Schneider

12:18 p.m. — Gov. Polis to give updates on state's response to pandemic

Gov. Jared Polis is scheduled to discuss update on the state of Colorado's response to the COVID-19 pandemic at or around 12:20 p.m. MDT. CPR News will carry the governor live on air and online.

Click "Listen Live" above to start the stream, ask your smart speaker to "Play CPR News," find a frequency near you or watch the video below:

12:14 p.m. — Coloradans stuck in Peru continue to hurry up and wait

Roseann Casey was supposed to be home from Peru almost two weeks ago. Instead, she and a dozen other Coloradans remain stuck in Pisac, a town about an hour away from Cusco.

The State Department has organized charter flights from Cusco back to the U.S., but Casey and the two dozen Americans in her group, including 13 Coloradans, still aren’t on those flights.

Casey doesn’t want to sound ungrateful, but the process — or lack thereof — is frustrating. Especially as stories circulate among those stuck in Peru of some Americans who just show up at the airport and get on a U.S. charter flight out of Peru, while others still wait for the embassy message that they are scheduled for a flight.

“So the people who are jumping on the standby line are home. And those of us who have been trying to be organized and trying to go along with the embassy plan, are still sitting here wondering what’s going on,” Casey explained.

Part of the problem for Casey’s group is getting to Cusco. Internal travel within Peru has stopped, unless you have government permission. The U.S. Embassy in Lima has organized buses to other remote areas of the country to get Americans, but a bus hasn’t been sent to Pisac. Casey said for a week they were told that a bus would come for them.

“However, every new person we talk to seems surprised that we think we’re getting ground transportation,” Casey said. “There’s not really a consistent response.”

Casey said the group has organized transportation to get them to the airport on their own. They’re just waiting on a letter from the embassy to show the vehicle is allowed to travel and would require Peruvian government approval.

“Since we found our own ground transportation, the embassy seems more confident that they would get us on a flight manifest,” Casey said. “Every step where we think we make progress, we’re not sure, but we’re hopeful,” Casey said. She said the embassy is confident they can get the Americans on a flight home tomorrow, but it’s something the group has heard before.

— Caitlyn Kim

11:21 a.m. — Elbert County Coroner confirms recently deceased resident tested positive for COVID-19

An Elbert County man in his 70s who died at his home on March 26 was revealed to have tested positive for COVID-19 by postmortem lab results by the county coroner, according to a release issued Monday.

“Our sincere condolences are with his friends and family during this difficult time. While this is a worldwide pandemic, we always remember that it has a very personal effect on our friends and neighbors here in Elbert County,” County Commissioner Chris Richardson said in a statement.

This brings the number of COVID-19 deaths recorded in Colorado to 49.