Pikes Peak area school districts are moving ahead with plans to open their schools in a few weeks, but with an eye on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s latest guidance on masks and state reaction to it.
Less than three weeks ago, CDC officials relaxed their COVID-19 guidelines, saying vaccinated teachers and students did not need to wear masks in school buildings. But the federal health agency reversed itself Tuesday, calling for a return to indoor masking by even vaccinated Americans in areas that have seen a recent increase in new coronavirus cases and hospitalizations.
State and county health officials have recommended that school districts utilize mitigation measures such as masking and distancing, but state officials have not responded to the federal agency s recommendations. El Paso County will not enact a local mask mandate, county health department spokeswoman Michelle Hewitt said Wednesday.
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The place where it all began in Colorado Springs â the  American Contract Bridge League Unit 360 â has reported a breakthrough COVID-19 case.
The first death in the state from COVID was reported on March 13, 2020, the disease claiming a bridge club member. Several others also contracted the virus and some died.
Phoebe Lostroh, a Colorado College microbiology professor who s also a club member, has been appointed by the club as spokesperson.Â
Lostroh issued a news release, stating, Someone at our club who played on Monday, July 19th and Friday, July 23rd, has tested positive for the Delta Variant of COVID-19, even though the person was fully vaccinated.Â
With new CDC guideline, Coloradans in 38 counties should wear masks in public indoor spaces
COLORADO (KRDO) The majority of Colorado is included in a new mask recommendation made by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Tuesday, the CDC recommended vaccinated people should wear masks while in indoor public places in counties with High or Substantial spread of the virus.
The CDC defines substantial transmission as 50 or more cases per 100,000 people over a one-week period.
According to CDC data, more than 60 percent of US counties have high or substantial transmission of COVID-19.
In Colorado, 38 out of the 64 counties fall under high or substantial, that includes El Paso County, Pueblo County, and Teller County.
The number of coronavirus cases in El Paso County is climbing, driven by the highly contagious delta variant.
The county has seen 717 new coronavirus cases in the last seven days, pushing the rate up to 99.2 cases per 100,000, a level not seen since early June, according to El Paso County Public Health data. The percentage of people testing positive has also risen to 6%.
The rate of cases locally is higher than any of the counties in the Denver metro area. For example, Denver County has 49.8 cases per 100,000 people over a week.
The number of new cases and percentage of people testing positive in El Paso County is far below levels seen in the fall and winter, but rising quickly, even though 55% of the county is fully vaccinated, public health data shows.
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