Las Animas COVID-19 case counts soar; Huerfano cases fall to pre-surge levels; Local health sets up online vaccine registration; SPRHC to hold clinics

by Mark Craddock
OUR WORLD — As COVID-19 case counts continue to soar in Las Animas County, largely on the back of an ongoing outbreak at the Trinidad Correctional Facility, Huerfano County’s statistics for the week have dropped to pre-surge levels.

Spanish Peaks Regional Health Center in Walsenburg has decommissioned the hospital rooms it set aside specifically for COVID-19 patients, as ongoing testing reveals the deadly outbreak at the Veterans Community Living Center may have finally passed. Only one new staff member has tested positive in the last week.

But Walsenburg’s Peakview School was closed Tuesday afternoon because of an outbreak among the custodial and cafeteria staff. School District Superintendent Mike Moore said the students and teachers will return to remote learning until the affected staff are cleared to return.
Meanwhile, vaccinations continue in fits and starts as health officials contend with still largely unreliable supply chains and an uptick in demand among “1B” recipients – those over age 70, those medically at-risk and essential frontline workers.

The district health department continues to field phone calls and make appointments based on vaccine availability. And SPRHC is conducting vaccination clinics tomorrow, Jan. 15, and Monday, Jan. 18 until supplies run out.

By The Numbers
Since Jan. 6, Las Animas County has seen 145 new COVID-19 cases, and one death. During the same timeframe, Huerfano County saw five new cases.

As of Jan. 11, Las Animas County has a total case count of 842, with 332 active cases and eight deaths. Huerfano County stands at 291 cases, with 10 active cases and 18 deaths. Colfax County, New Mexico, reports 603 cases with 26 deaths.

Both counties remain at “Level Orange – High Risk” on the state’s COVID-19 dial. In terms of dial metrics, Las Animas County has a two-week cumulative incidence of 586.5 per 100,000 people and a two-week average positivity of 22.2%.

Huerfano County’s positivity – which peaked during the late-autumn surge at more than 1,600 — now stands at 116.7 per 100,000 people. The county’s two-week average positivity is 1%.

Outbreak at Peakview
Walsenburg’s Peakview School closed at 3:30 p.m. Jan. 12 because of a COVID-19 outbreak at the school. Moore said the school will conduct remote learning, quite possibly until Jan. 25.
“Due to what is considered a school outbreak,” Moore wrote in a Tuesday     afternoon e-mail, “we have been required to close the school down as of 3:30 today after all children are released.”
He said the individual who tested positive and eight people in quarantine because of possible exposure to that person are all custodial and cafeteria workers at the school.
No teachers or students are involved in the outbreak, he said.

“We are required by the health department to shut down for 72 hours, with a deep cleaning to occur on Wednesday or Thursday,” he wrote. But later in the day he said the school will remain closed because “there’s just no way we can reopen without the cafeteria staff.”

Moore said the quarantine designation was based on instructions from the Colorado Department of Education toolkit, which says one positive test and more than two in quarantine constitutes an outbreak.

Prison Outbreak is Ongoing
The extreme spike in Las Animas County’s COVID-19 numbers are largely attributable to an outbreak at the Trinidad Correctional Facility in Model, which was designated an outbreak by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment on Nov. 19, 2020.
The Colorado Department of Corrections said Jan. 11 that 14 staff members are considered active cases, for a total of 38 since the outbreak began. The DOC’s online dashboard showed that, as of Jan. 12, 305 inmates had tested positive for COVID-19 and 266 are currently considered active cases.
In early November, before it was designated an outbreak, the Trinidad Correctional Facility implemented “Phase III” protocols after three staff members and one inmate tested positive for the virus.

Phase III is the DOC’s highest level of COVID safety, allowing inmates to be quarantined, restricting movement and interaction within the prison and limiting visitation.

Two of the prison’s five residential units were placed in quarantine at that time.CDOC Spokesperson Annie Skinner said last week that the facility is still on Phase III operations. She said the prison currently has 348 inmates on grounds at the facility and 167 staff members who currently work at the facility.
In spite of the outbreak, she said the facility does not have any staffing issues at this time.

Vaccination Clinics
SPRHC announced it would be conducting two vaccination clinics for citizens age 70 and older. The first will be held tomorrow, Jan. 15, 9 a.m.-noon and the second on Monday, Jan.18, 9 a.m.-noon. Eligible citizens wishing a vaccine should call Debbie Romero at 719-738-5201 to schedule an appointment.

So far, the hospital has administered 307 doses of the Moderna vaccine and will start second-round vaccinations next week, SPRHC spokesperson Trapper Collova said.

He said the facility is scheduled to receive weekly allotments of the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and “will continue vaccination clinics until all local residents who wish to be vaccinated have the opportunity to do so.”

Meanwhile, the Las Animas-Huerfano Counties District Health Department has launched an online form to facilitate registering for a vaccine.

The form can be found at https://form.jotform.com/210086599112051.
“While filling out this form will inform us of the number of people in each phase, it does not guarantee a vaccine in any timeframe,” local health officials said in a press release. “When your time comes in the phases, you will be notified to schedule an appointment.”