Photo from St. Anthony Summit Medical Center
As Summit County comes to grips with the news that it won’t be moving out of level red restrictions anytime soon, officials are working to boost local testing and vaccination efforts.
At the Summit County Board of Health meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 15, Public Health Director Amy Wineland presented testing and vaccination updates. At the meeting, Wineland said the county is encouraging everyone, regardless of symptoms or exposure to the virus, to get tested.
“It is really vital that people get tested, especially if they’re out and about and not quarantining themselves in their homes,” she said. “It’s extremely important for anyone with any symptoms, mild symptoms included, to also go get tested. It’s really one of the only tools we’ve had to isolate people and get their close contacts in quarantine.”
A sign on the door of Downstairs at Eric s on Dec. 4 in Breckenridge informs customers that the restaurant is closed for indoor dining. After initially expressing hesitation, Summit County officials are considering implementing the state’s Five Star Program to allow restaurants to open at 25% capacity indoors.
Summit County won’t be moving out of level red restrictions for the foreseeable future.
At a Summit County Board of Health meeting Tuesday, Dec. 15, County Manager Scott Vargo said the county’s current public health order, which places it in level red, will extend past Friday, Dec. 18 its current expiration date. When the county initially moved into level red, state officials said it would be able to move into level orange once the county showed a two-week decline in its incidence rate.
Starting Monday, Dec. 14, Vail Health’s testing site will operate out of the Speakeasy Movie Theatre, 103 S. Harris St.
Vail Health was previously operating its clinic out of the Old Community Center in Frisco. The clinic is the result of a partnership between Vail Health, Summit County Public Health, Breckenridge Grand Vacations and Arapahoe Basin Ski Area, which all decided to move the location so that people in Breckenridge could have better access to testing.
Testing is available from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. by appointment. To make an appointment, people should email summitcovidtesting@vailhealth.org and include their name, phone number and a picture of a photo ID.
Summit County reported 155 new cases and three hospitalizations due to the novel coronavirus over the week, according to the county’s coronavirus webpage.
The total number of cases among residents now stands at 1,776 and 47 people have been hospitalized since March 5. This week, the county added a new data graph to its webpage, detailing the total number of COVID-19 patients at St. Anthony Summit Medical Center, including residents and nonresidents.
According to that graph, there were no COVID-19 patients at the hospital as of 10 a.m. Friday, Dec. 11. The new graph also shows the number of patients transferred to another hospital. Since Dec. 1, three patients have been transferred to lower-elevation hospitals.
A medical technician holds a clipboard with information related to COVID-19 screening procedures at the Silverthorne drive-thru testing site Nov. 20. Pitkin County has started requiring a negative test from travelers entering the county. Summit County officials said that is a mitigation effort they are not considering.
Photo by Jason Connolly / Jason Connolly Photography
Summit County officials will not be requiring a negative COVID-19 test result from visitors who come into the county.
At a Summit County Board of Health meeting Thursday, Dec. 10, county officials discussed Pitkin County’s decision to require a negative test result from travelers.
Starting Monday, Dec. 14, Pitkin County will be requiring all nonresidents spending one or more nights in the county to complete a travel affidavit, which includes a negative test result for anyone over 10 years old. According to the Pitkin County website