1:29 p.m. — National Jewish to offer antibody tests

National Jewish Health in Denver will start offering antibody tests on Friday that their researchers and medical professionals developed.

Antibody tests, also known as serological tests, look for antibodies in a person's blood, indicating that they had contracted COVID-19 and had an immune response to the disease.

The test is meant for people without symptoms of the disease.

Antibody tests may help trace the virus in later stages of an outbreak, although their reliability is questioned by some public health experts. We wrote more on that here.

Testing is done via a drive-through at the National Jewish Health Harrison Street parking lot between 13th and 14th avenues.

Individuals looking to get tested can book an appointment on their own here, or get a referral from a physician. If a person requests a test on their own without a physician's referral, it will cost $94.

Results are returned in 24-48 hours.

More details are available on National Jewish's website.

— Alex Scoville

12:54 p.m. — First Space Force, next Health Force?

Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet and New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand are proposing the creation of a Health Force to help tackle the coronavirus pandemic.

Bennet said the country faces a once-in-a-century public health challenge, and this would be one way to get people back to work — employing people in the public health surge that will be needed to open the economy back up safely.

“We need ideas as big as the challenges we face,” Bennet said. “I think the Health Force meets that test.”

The trained health force workers would help in the crisis by conducting testing, contact tracing, and eventually vaccination. They’d also help out with more mundane duties like data entry and office work. Gillibrand said members of this health force would be deployed to the front lines of the coronavirus response and would “amplify the work and expertise of state and local public health agencies.”

The senators are trying to get the idea included in the fourth coronavirus relief package that is currently being negotiated.

The proposed Health Force would be federally supported but locally managed. While the people would serve as “a force multiplier” for the current crisis, the program would also provide grants to state and local health department to hire and retain force members to serve as health extension workers in underserved areas.

— Caitlyn Kim

12:28 p.m. — Senate candidates blame COVID-19 as they seek a spot on the primary ballot

Hart Van Denburg/CPR News Former state House Speaker Andrew Romanoff at a picnic-style candidate forum hosted by Indivisible Denver hosted for Democrats running to unseat Republican U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner in 2020 at Barnum Park on Sunday, June 9, 2019.

When the coronavirus pandemic hit Colorado in mid-March, many political hopefuls were among the early collateral damage.

That’s because virus fears were just ramping up at the same time that many were entering their final push to collect enough signatures to make the ballot. With paid canvassers scared to work and the public increasingly scared of handling shared pens and papers, many candidates fell short.

However, a Denver judge has revived some hopes. On Tuesday, he ordered the state to add Senate candidate Michelle Ferrigno Warren to the Democratic primary ballot, in spite of her only submitting around half the valid signatures necessary. Another candidate in the Senate race, Lorena Garcia, is now going to court asking for the same relief.

All this means that former House Speaker Andrew Romanoff and former Governor John Hickenlooper, who for a while looked like they’d be the only ones squaring off in the primary to take on Republican Cory Gardner, may have some more company on the ballot.

Read CPR’s full story on the situation here.

— Megan Verlee

12:07 p.m. — Fremont County asks Gov. Polis for waiver to reopen

Fremont County, to the west of Colorado Springs and Pueblo, has sent a letter to Gov. Polis requesting a waiver to reopen. Like Eagle and Mesa counties, Fremont wants to restart its economic recovery. They feel they are in a position to do so while protecting public health.

County commissioners instructed the county public health director to submit the waiver request to the state. Public Health Director Emma Davis included the county's plans for social distancing, masks and case testing and tracing alongside the request.

“These protocols will allow businesses to start thinking of appropriate ways to reopen, while keeping staff and citizens safe,” said Debbie Bell, the current board chair of the commissioners in a statement. “We all need to be careful and do this right. We don’t want to step back with an outbreak.”

The county said its plan is in alignment with the state's intention to gradually and slowly reopen Colorado.

— Jim Hill

11:46 a.m. — Delta County approves business loan partnership

Delta County leaders and organizations have teams up to provide loans for small businesses impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.

The county has donated $250,000 to a fund designed to provide short-term support for businesses as they work to secure federal relief funding.

“This program has come together very quickly. I think this is a good thing for the county to spend money on,” Greg Pope of the Uncompahgre Development Company told the Delta County Independent.

The loans can be used for things like rent or mortgage, payroll, insurance or utilities, as well as changing delivery or manufacturing process in response to the pandemic.

Read the full story from the Independent.

— Daniel J. Schneider

11:15 a.m. — Broomfield reports first long term care facility outbreak

Broomfield Public Health and Environment on Tuesday reported the county's first outbreak at a long term care facility.

As of Tuesday, there were six confirmed cases and one death at the Sunrise at FlatIrons facility. An outbreak is defined as two or more cases within 14 days.

The resident who died was in their 90s and had known underlying conditions.

“This facility continues to offer its residents an intense level of compassion and care, and we look forward to supporting the facility in implementing their isolation and quarantine practices,” Public Health Director Jason Vahling said in a release. “With almost 40 percent of Colorado's fatalities associated with long-term care facilities — home to our most vulnerable residents — we strive to create the safest environment possible.”

Thousands of families across Colorado have a member in a long-term elder-care facility with cases of COVID-19, and many have reported difficulty getting testing or information about the outbreaks.

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis announced on Friday that he was requiring every nursing home in the state to file a plan for isolating residents who show symptoms of the coronavirus.

— Daniel J. Schneider

10:05 a.m. — What's the reopening plan for Denver?

Gov. Jared Polis’s decision to gradually reopen Colorado raises questions about how Denver, home to the state’s greatest concentration of COVID-19 cases and deaths, will shield itself against a potential surge as people reemerge into society.