THIS IS A RAPIDLY EVOLVING AND FLUID SITUATION.  INFORMATION AND ACTION ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE AT ANY TIME.  BE PREPARED TO BE FLEXIBLE AND PATIENT.

The situations, numbers, website links, data, and etc. described below were current as of Tuesday 10/27/2020 at 11:50 am.

PLEASE DISTRIBUTE THIS WIDELY

10/27/2020 Crowley/Otero COVID-19 Update #1:  Crowley/Otero Movement to Level 2

Please take the time to read and understand this entire message. 

Internet links:  Before I send out each update, I check the links to make sure they are active.  However, links do change from time to time, so the links I sent out today may not be the same tomorrow.  You may have to search around a bit.

Hello to all.  As you are all no doubt aware, we are seeing COVID-19 activity increase statewide, and Crowley/Otero is no exception.  Due to this increase, Crowley and Otero Counties will be moving to a more restrictive phase, which is Safer At Home Level 2.  This move will be effective Friday, 10/30/2020.  Delaying it until then will give our communities time to ask questions, respond, and adapt accordingly.  How will this affect us?  Please look at the attached document entitled “Level Restrictions”, and compare the restrictions between Level 1 (where we are now) and Level 2 (Where we will be this Friday).  You can also see the level restrictions online at the following website   https://covid19.colorado.gov/data/covid-19-dial/covid-19-dial-dashboard and click on the “Show Guidelines and Restrictions” link.

 

Also on the aforementioned website you can click on individual counties to see where their numbers are at currently.  Note that some of their numbers corresponds to the Stay At Home phase.  We want to avoid this (see #3 below).

Why are we moving to the next, more restrictive level?

1. We are already (unofficially) there, both as a combined public health jurisdiction and as individual counties.  We are over the Level 1 thresholds in both the Two Week Cumulative Incidence Rate and Two Week Average Positivity categories.  We only need to exceed 1 category to move. 
2. The soonest we could get back to Level 1 would be 11/6/2020, and it would require NOT having any more positive cases between now and then, which is highly unlikely given the local, regional, and statewide increases. 
3. We most definitely do not want to move back to the Stay At Home phase, so we need to proactively stabilize and decrease cases now so that we can hopefully avoid that.
4. Any movement to a more restrictive phase on the Dial invalidates variances, so while we are at Level 2 our variance is not active, and we are solely under Level 2 restrictions.

If you have questions, please contact the following staff that have been assigned to assist you: 

ü  Su Korbitz

o   ehdir@oterogov.org

o   (719) 383-4728

ü  Tony Harviston

o   eha@oterogov.org

o   (719) 383-3087

 

School staff/personnel, if you have school-related questions regarding this situation, please contact our regional school liaison:

ü  Aaron Olivieri

o   seepr@ocphd.org

o   (719) 468-6035

 

If you call and Aaron, Su, or Tony are not readily available, please leave your name and phone number and they will return your call as soon as they are able. 

Very recently we have had medical providers contact us with concerns about staffing issues related to COVID-19 exposures.  This is a very serious matter, as we do not want to be without adequate medical professionals for our communities.  It is, therefore, extremely important for all us to do our part to stop the spread.  What can you do to help get our COVID-19 numbers down, which will help to reduce the risk to our medical providers?  https://covid19.colorado.gov/prevention 

Additionally, please look at the third amendment to the Safer At Home Dial public health order (20-35) here:  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uj7v97VjjnMD10bLThx-rAhNZTQPnRrZ/view

Please, please, please follow the guidance, especially regarding limiting personal gathering sizes. 

Thanks for reading, and remember it’s up to us.

Richard Ritter, Executive Director

Otero County Health Department

13 West 3rd Street, Room 111

La Junta, Colorado 81050

719-383-3045 (Office)

719-383-3060 (Fax)

rritter@oterogov.org