LATEST: 10 new coronavirus cases confirmed in Colorado bring first sign of “limited community spread”

As the number of coronavirus cases in Colorado rose to 12 on Monday, state health officials said they’ve now tested 184 people for the highly infectious COVID-19 respiratory disease that’s sweeping the globe.

In the process of evaluating those patients, Colorado’s state lab performed a total of 296 tests, because health officials prefer to run two samples per patient, though they can’t always do that.

That’s still below the state’s full capacity to test for the new coronavirus. Health officials announced one week ago they no longer had to rely on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for initial testing, and now had the ability to conduct up to 160 tests a day.

In a statement Monday evening, officials with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment reiterated that while they can perform that many tests per day, they “must prioritize testing specimens that meet the current criteria.”

Those criteria include fever or signs of respiratory illness and either having had contact with a COVID-19 patient or having traveled to a location with ongoing community spread of the disease.

State health officials are urging Coloradans who fear they’re infected to call their health providers first to arrange a visit. If those providers determine a patient needs to be tested, they will collect specimens from the nose and throat to be sent to the state lab.

Colorado currently has 900 coronavirus testing kits, and is expecting 700 more from the CDC, officials said.

Four new cases

Monday saw the announcement of four new cases, among people living in Denver, Arapahoe, Eagle and Larimer counties, as well as concerns about 13 Australians visiting Aspen who may have been exposed. Other cases previously were reported in Douglas, Summit and El Paso counties.

The tests conducted in Colorado are considered “presumptive positive.” The state has sent them to the CDC for official confirmation. The state health department has not yet heard back from the CDC on tests performed on samples taken last week.

“We expect CDC to send results from the presumptive positive tests we submitted within the next couple of days,” spokeswoman Gabi Johnston said in an email.

Test results for another potential case, involving a Denver woman in her 70s, have proved inconclusive, meaning the state will send the results to the CDC for additional testing, said the state health department.

“Out of an abundance of caution, CDPHE will treat that individual as a positive case until we receive conclusive results,” the department said in a news release.

It is not clear how the woman was exposed to the new coronavirus, with health officials saying the case is under investigation.



Waiting for word

Alli Owen, a Littleton resident, said she was tested for COVID-19 after showing symptoms — a chest cough and low fever — on Friday, but has not yet received test results.

The 29-year-old is in quarantine based on the recommendations of her doctors. No state or local agency has contacted her, Owen said in an email.

“I’m just worried about what this means as the virus continues to spread,” she said. “This is just the beginning. It doesn’t seem we are adequately prepared to handle an influx of testing. And in order to properly contain, we need to be able to test everyone.”

When asked about a potential delay in testing samples, Johnston said in an email: “Samples are being tested and reported within 24 hours as long as all of the required information is provided at the time of submission. Missing information will delay the results.”

In Aspen, local health officials were taking samples from 13 people who are experiencing “fairly mild” symptoms of the new coronavirus. The individuals had contact with a woman who tested positive for the virus after returning to Australia.

The individuals, who are in isolation, are all Australians and visiting the mountain town, said Karen Koenemann, public health director for Pitkin County.

Emergency operations

In Denver, the mayor on Monday ordered a partial opening of the city’s emergency operations center as at least eight residents are in quarantine after having contact with a Denverite who has tested positive.

Later in the day, when the state Department of Public Health and Environment announced new cases, officials initially said a Denver woman in her 30s who has contracted COVID-19 had no known contact with an infected person or recent travel history.

However, the agency issued a correction Monday evening saying the woman has recently traveled within the U.S.

In Larimer County, a woman in her 50s with COVID-19 has been diagnosed with pneumonia. It’s unclear how the woman, who lives in Johnstown, contracted the coronavirus.

In Eagle County, the new case announced Monday involves a resident in her 70s. The woman has no known contact with an infected person but did recently travel within the U.S., according to the news release.

And Monday night, health officials announced a fourth case: a woman in her 30s living in Arapahoe County. The Tri-County Health Department said in a news release Monday night that the woman lives in Centennial and recently traveled to India.

“We are just learning of this positive test from Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and will begin our contact investigation to determine if there were any other potential exposures,” John M. Douglas Jr., MD, executive director of Tri-County Health Department, said in the release.

Local officials also released more details about one of the Douglas County patients, saying she visited the Castle Rock Department of Motor Vehicles, at 301 Wilcox St., on March 3. She visited between noon and 3 p.m.

Also Monday, the state Division of Insurance, under orders from Gov. Jared Polis, asked insurers to waive costs, such as copays or deductibles, when patients seeking COVID-19 testing visit an in-network doctor’s office, urgent care center or emergency room.

If an in-network provider cannot do the testing, insurers must cover an out-of-network doctor, according to the news release.

“Our administration is taking swift action to ensure Coloradans can get tested for COVID-19 without financial fear,” Polis said in a statement. “This important step will help ensure cost barriers do not stand in the way of people getting tested.”

The department is also directing insurers to cover one-time early refills of any prescriptions so people have access to them if they decide to limit contact with others, according to the release.

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