Of the 276 cases identified in Wednesdayâs 14-day COVID-19 case report, two patients are employees at the Sundeck and Aspen Mountain Club, an Aspen Skiing Co. statement confirmed Sunday.
Pitkin County Public Health, in its contact tracing, reached out to SkiCo and The Little Nell Wednesday to inform the larger employer entities of the status.
âThey recommended testing all staff at the Sundeck/[Aspen Mountain Club], as a proactive measure, to which we complied, over the last three days,â the statement confirms.
As of Sunday morning, 72 SkiCo employees were tested and, including the initial two cases, the endeavor netted 17 positive results. Those additional 15 employees were Âasymptomatic and are now in quarantine.
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Aspen Police Officer Chip Seamans receives the COVID-19 vaccine from Laurie Cohen, the immunization coordinator at Aspen Community Health, on Wednesday. First rounds of vaccines were given to the valleyâs first responders and Cohen said with a chuckle, âThis has certainly been a project, a good project though.â
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Skiers get in the queue for the Elk Camp gondola in Snowmass on Dec. 21, 2020.
With local cases of COVID-19 at an “astronomical” level, Pitkin County will voluntarily move to Red level restrictions for nearly all sectors starting Tuesday.
The only two exceptions to the Red level will be restaurants which will be allowed to operate at current 25% indoor capacity with a 9:30 p.m. last call and hard close at 10 p.m. and indoor events that followed the rules and submitted safety plans by Sunday.
The county’s request last week to extend last call in Aspen to 11 p.m. during the two-week period around Christmas was denied by Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment Director Jill Hunsacker Ryan, said Jordana Sabella, the county’s interim public health director. With a skyrocketing incidence rate, the county should implement more restrictions, not less, according to Ryan’s letter to the county.
issued Sunday by Pitkin County Public Health.
The county Coroner’s Office will oversee the investigation that began Saturday, according to Deputy County Manager Phylis Mattice. The deceased, a man in his 80s, was diagnosed with COVID-19 in November, Mattice said Sunday.
It’s unclear yet whether the coronavirus was the primary cause of death, according to Pitkin County Coroner Steve Ayers. The man was in hospice care suffering from a terminal illness; COVID-19 could be a “contributing factor,” but it’s unlikely that the virus was the sole cause of the death, Ayers said Sunday.
Even so, the report of a possible COVID-related fatality comes amid ever-increasing COVID-19 cases in Pitkin County; if attributed to the coronavirus, the death currently under investigation would be the first COVID-related fatality in Pitkin County in eight months, after two confirmed deaths caused by the virus in March.
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