The Yuma County variance to Safer at Home rules remains in effect despite a jump in cases recently.
Yuma County’s confirmed cases of COVID-19 stood at 42 as of Wednesday’s update on the Northeast Colorado Health Department, nchd.org. That is an increase of 31 cases since May 21, and 23 since last Wednesday, May 27. That means the county has more than 20 active cases at the moment.
The NCHD confirmed with the Pioneer the increase is due to one outbreak that is under investigation. The location has not been publicly confirmed by public officials, though it is in the eastern part of the county.
The increase also is notable because, when the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment approved Yuma County’s variance, one of the stipulations was that it could rescind it if cases increased by 10 in a seven-day period.
However, the NCHD has been working with the county and the CDPHE, and has been able to keep variance in place.
County Administrator Andrea Calhoon told the Pioneer on Monday afternoon that the NCHD informed the county that the state is invested in ensuring communities are not on and off variances as things fluctuate. Instead, the focus is going to be on a resource-based approach, such as what the county has the capacity to handle healthcare-wise, and the NCHD’s capacity to do contact tracing.
“As long as we don’t overwhelm an entity, we’ll keep going,” Calhoon said.
To date, the county’s healthcare facilities have been able to handle the increase in cases.
