A year ago this month, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment began tracking outbreaks of COVID-19 in the state. Out of more than 4,000 sites identified as outbreaks since then, 32 have registered more than 100 COVID-19 cases each, with five of them topping 1,000 several by a lot.
The department s data, most recently updated on March 31, shows that the vast majority of those mega-outbreaks remain under active investigation a reflection of the massive infection counts and their potential ripple effects. Even the outbreak at the Weld County Jail, whose start date is listed as April 1, 2020, and Denver s Van Cise-Simonet Detention Center, which began last April 30, are still classified as active. The largest outbreak considered resolved was a November 2020 flare-up at the Arkansas Valley Correctional Facility in Crowley County, following 1,044 cases and four resident (i.e., inmate) deaths.
Since June 2019, the El Paso County Criminal Justice Center has reported four suicides, a sharp increase since the last previously reported suicide in 2009. According to recent reporting by Reuters, which filed more than 1,500 public records requests to compile data on inmate populations, health care and deaths from 500 jails across the nation, suicide is the second leading cause of death in Colorado jails after illness. Between 2009 to 2019, in Colorado, 64 inmates died by suicide. Coloradoâs inmate death rate is 1.64 per 1,000 inmates, compared to the national inmate death rate of 1.46. The factors that contribute to inmate suicide are varied and complex, and the rise in suicides at the El Paso County Jail coincide with both a change in medical service providers and ongoing issues with El Paso County Sheriffâs deputies completing required inmate checks, which has also led to inmate injuries from fights going unnoticed by jail staff.
Heidi Beedle
The Colorado Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Board revoked the certification of six peace officers Dec. 11, 2020, for knowingly making untruthful statements while conducting their official duties. The revocations are the first to be mandated by Senate Bill 19-166, which passed during the 2019 legislative session. As a result, those six officers are no longer able to work as certified peace officers in Colorado.Â
One of these officers was El Paso County Sheriffâs Deputy Russell Smith, who had worked at the El Paso County Criminal Justice Center since September 2016. According to an internal affairs investigation summary obtained by the
These active outbreaks have involved 294 among staff and 16 among attendees.
No deaths are attributed to any of these outbreaks.
The two largest active restaurant outbreaks are at In-N-Out in El Paso County, which the CDPHE has 80 confirmed cases, and the one in Arapahoe County, which has 44.
See a full list of restaurant outbreaks below.
Jails and prisons
Correctional facilities account for some of the largest COVID-19 outbreaks in the state, with 1,404 inmates at the Sterling Correctional Facility and 1,051 at the El Paso County Criminal Justice Center having tested positive for the virus.
When prisoners should be vaccinated has been a topic of debate among health experts and politicians.