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Boulder County reports 16 new COVID-19 cases, incline in weekly case average
Daily Times-Call - 3/17/2021
Mar. 17—Boulder County on Tuesday reported 16 new coronavirus cases — a number that public health officials say is possibly related to testing site closures because of this weekend's snowstorm.
While there were no new deaths, public health officials also reported that the seven-day average of new cases has gone up from 45.6 to 52.4 during the past week.
A snowstorm closed free local testing sites Saturday through Monday. Mike Stratton, Boulder County Public Health spokesperson, said public health officials are watching results during the next few days to study the impact of the closures.
"While we can't say for sure, it's quite possible that having the free local testing sites closed from Saturday to Monday has lowered the number of new cases that were reported today," he wrote in an email. "We will have to watch the results over the next few days to see how much of an impact there might be."
In a Facebook post, public health officials described the uptick in the seven-day average of cases as "not a large rise and not unexpected with increased in-person learning."
"We don't have any direct data link between the rise in cases and the recent riot on the Hill in Boulder, but we do know that gatherings of unmasked people of more than two households can lead to the spread of COVID-19," the post read.
Stratton also cautioned people to continue to follow public health orders on St. Patrick's Day.
"We understand people are feeling pandemic fatigue, but with St. Patrick's Day and warmer weather on the horizon, and more vaccines available every week, we ask everyone to please keep their masks on in public and to limit their gatherings for a while longer," Stratton wrote.
The number of new cases reported Tuesday brings the county's total number of cases to 19,696, Boulder County Public Health reported. The death toll remained at 250. There were 16 people in Boulder County's hospitals because of COVID-19 — a slight rise from the 13 people who were reported to be in the hospital on Friday. There were four COVID-19 patients who were discharged on Tuesday. There have been a total of 636 residents hospitalized because of COVID-19.
The University of Colorado Boulder closed its testing sites Monday because of the snowstorm. Campus spokesperson Melanie Marquez Parra said that results will be updated Wednesday. As of Friday, the dashboard showed that during testing Thursday, there were 15 positive results found, bringing the total number of positive cases since Jan. 4 to 398.
Boulder Valley School District reported on its online coronavirus dashboard that 19 active cases and 258 quarantines among 233 students and 25 staff.
In the St. Vrain Valley School District, there were 25 active cases reported among 23 students and two staff members, according to the district's online coronavirus dashboard. Throughout the school year, there have been 954 coronavirus cases among 711 students and 243 staff members.
Statewide, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment reported that there were 444,712 cases. There have been 6,048 deaths among cases, and the state reports that a total of 6,126 deaths are due to COVID-19. There have been 24,250 people hospitalized. Of Colorado's more than 5.7 million people, there have been 2,654,490 people tested.
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Boulder Valley School District active cases, quarantines
BVSD elementary schools
— Birch: 1 active case; 20 students and 1 staff member quarantined
— Columbine: 2 active cases; 19 students and 1 staff quarantined
— Ryan: 2 active cases; 54 students and 2 staff members quarantined
— University Hill: 1 active case; 21 students and 1 staff member quarantined
BVSD middle schools
— Angevine: 1 active case; six students quarantined
— Louisville: 1 active case; 1 student quarantined
— Southern Hills: 1 active case; 7 students and 6 staff members quarantined
BVSD high schools
— Fairview: 2 active cases; 13 students and 4 staff members quarantined
— Monarch: 1 active case; 14 students and 1 staff member quarantined
BVSD athletics:
— Boulder High School Athletics: 2 active cases; 57 students and 2 staff members quarantined
— Broomfield High School Athletics: 2 active cases; 20 students and 1 staff member quarantined
Other:
— Ed Center: 1 active case; 1 staff member quarantined
— Maintenance: 1 active case; 5 staff quarantined
— Monarch PK-8: 1 active case
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St. Vrain Valley School District active cases
SVVSD elementary schools
— Fall River: 2 student cases
— Hygiene: 1 student case
— Longmont Estates: 2 student cases
— Mead: 2 student cases
— Red Hawk: 5 students and 1 staff cases
SVVSD middle schools
— Longs Peak: 2 student cases
SVVSD high schools
— Erie: 3 student cases
— Mead: 2 student cases
— Silver Creek: 1 student case
— Skyline: 1 student case
Other:
— Soaring Heights PK-8: 2 student cases
— Central Administration: 1 staff case
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