*Total COVID-19 Cases: 71,164 (+2,636)

Total Cases in Berthoud: 3,072 (+112)

Deaths in Larimer County: 444 (+15)

7-day case rate per 100k: 876 (-379)

Hospital Utilization: 79%

ICU Utilization: 108%

7-Day test positivity rate: 21.3%

Risk Score: High

COVID patients in hospital: 99 (-10)

Deaths attributed to the virus comprise 0.62% of reported cases. Of reported deaths, 24% were age 75 to 84, 20% were 65-74 and 38% were 85 and older. Twenty-nine people in the county between the ages of 18-54 have died.

As of Monday, Jan. 31, there have been 611,197 doses of the vaccines administered in Larimer County. 78.5% of eligible county residents have received at least one dose of the vaccine.

*Case data as of Wednesday.

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On January 31 the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment extended Public Health Order 21-02 concerning access to care. The order requires providers to do all they can to provide all eligible individuals who have tested positive for COVID-19 with therapeutics and will be valid until March 1, 2022.

According to information provided by the state, Colorado’s supply of several therapeutics is determined at the federal level. As of January 2022, the federal government is supplying an extremely limited quantity of these medications, significantly impacting the number of people who are able to receive therapeutic treatment. Health officials are hopeful that the supply of monoclonal antibody treatment and antivirals will ramp up significantly in the coming months.

Updates in this public health order:

• Removed monoclonal antibody therapies not currently authorized by FDA, added therapeutic options to include COVID-19 oral antivirals and another monoclonal antibody therapy.
• Amended the order to include currently authorized COVID-19 therapeutics (monoclonal antibody therapies and oral antivirals).
• Amended reporting requirements to weekly for sotrovimab and daily for Evusheld, molnupiravir, and Paxlovid.
• Amended to include specific eligibility criteria for each of the monoclonal antibody therapies and oral antivirals.
• Added language to allow for other medical conditions other than those specifically listed as potential high-risk indicators for severe COVID-19 disease.

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If you are new to 4-H and want to learn more about it there will be a “4-H 101 session” offered to learn all about Larimer County 4-H and how to have a successful first year. Participants are asked to register to attend the Wednesday, Feb. 9 event from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Larimer County Extension Office located at 1525 Blue Spruce in Fort Collins. Registration can be completed by following the register link at larimer.org/events/extension/4-h-101-new-families-2022-02-09.

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Poudre Valley REA (PVREA) members can expect to see a cumulative rate decrease of 2.8 percent applied to their March electric bills. PVREA members will soon pay less for their electricity per kWh than they did back in 2013.

PVREA Board Directors approved two separate rate reductions in 2021, an earlier rate reduction approved in April 2021 and this current rate reduction, both average about 1.4 percent each. The cumulative rate decrease of 2.8 percent is shown as a power cost adjustment (PCA) line item on member bills. A PCA allows PVREA to expedite savings for homes and businesses in Northern Colorado as opposed to a lengthy rate change process.

Currently PVREA has the lowest cooperative residential electric rate in the state of Colorado thanks in part to the previously announced rate decrease. With the addition of another 1.4 percent reduction in rates, PVREA will also have some of the lowest residential electric rates in the state among all types of electric providers including municipalities and investor-owned-utilities (IOU).

“Our Board has a strategic focus on safeguarding the affordability of our products and services for the members they represent,” said Jeff Wadsworth, President and CEO, of PVREA. “To that end our employee team takes great pride in fulfilling that obligation daily. Combined with another rate decrease in our wholesale power costs from our cooperative power supplier, Tri-State, we successfully lowered rates again for our membership.”

The energy mix of PVREA is becoming increasingly green, allowing the cooperative to deliver more clean and affordable power to their members. As PVREA progresses towards reaching their 80 by 30 goal, the cooperative anticipates stable rates and reliable service through a diverse energy portfolio of renewable resources and baseload power.

While the cooperative has successfully lowered rates, PVREA has also effectively improved reliability metrics that measure outage durations and restoration times.

“We know every dollar counts and hope this will be an economic stimulus to the communities we serve,” Wadsworth added. “Our recent rate decrease is an example of how we are continually delivering more to our members, like the families, ranches, businesses, schools, and towns who are the heartbeat of our Northern Colorado communities.”

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We sometimes don’t see it coming. With little warning, family members can be thrust into becoming a caregiver, altering life in many ways.

Larimer County’s Powerful Tools for Caregivers classes can help community members prepare to take care of themselves while providing care for someone else while focusing on their wellbeing.

The Larimer County Office on Aging is offering these six class sessions, held once per week to fortify caregivers with the tools they need to provide care for family members. Classes are headed by experienced leaders, and participants are given a Caregiver Helpbook to accompany the class and provide additional caregiver resources.

Register for one of four courses offered this spring at larimer.org/spotlights/2022/01/31/empowering-family-caregivers.  For more information, contact the Larimer County Family Caregiver Support Program at (970) 489-7758 or [email protected].

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On Jan. 7, the Colorado State University System opened CSU Spur, a year-round and first-of-its-kind public destination in Denver, located at the National Western Center. The first facility to open at CSU Spur is called the Vida building, which translates to “life” in Spanish, and focuses on animal and human health.

CSU Spur is made up of three buildings that are open to the public and offer grade-level aligned experiential education and a chance for people to watch professionals at work – in Vida, visitors will be able to watch veterinarians perform surgery on dogs and cats, therapists working with horses to offer equine assisted therapies, and veterinarians helping equine athletes through strength-building and therapeutic exercises. Seven horses currently live on-site at the new Vida building as part of the Temple Grandin Equine Center equine assisted services program.

Visitors can engage with interactive exhibits, demonstrations, evaluate X-Rays and animal health in a mock veterinary clinic, and explore animal anatomy through virtual reality. Daily demonstrations, educational programs, and events can be found year-round at https://csuspur.org/events.

“We’re proud to open this new campus up to everyone with an interest in learning and discovering more about our world, our health, the food we eat, and the water that sustains us. Spur belongs to all of Colorado; it’s created through partnerships with people and communities around our state; and there’s no place like it anywhere. We hope everyone feels welcome to come in and check it out,” said Tony Frank, chancellor of the CSU System.

The new campus in Denver brings students closer to seeing themselves in professions connected to food, water, and health – the three topic areas that CSU Spur’s Terra, Hydro, and Vida buildings focus on, respectively.

As a destination that is open year-round to the public, CSU Spur will become a place that connects people with important issues, showcases science and research, and excites learners to pursue careers they are passionate about, engage in conversations, and be part of solutions.

“This new campus complements the work that is occurring on the CSU Pueblo campus. Spur introduces young people to the discovery process and new ideas. Once you unlock their curiosity, they begin thinking about what’s possible and how college might help them in their own discovery process. We are very proud to be a part of creating a new educational ecosystem for the people of Colorado,” said Timothy Mottet, president of CSU Pueblo.

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Rocky Mountain National Park and Rocky Mountain Conservancy are co-hosting a virtual “Science Behind the Scenery” webinar series in lieu of the park’s traditional Biennial Research Conference. Beginning on February 15, 2022, this webinar series will be taking place on Tuesdays from 11:00 am – 12:30 pm MST from February 15 to March 15, 2022. The webinar series will be available online via GoToWebinar.

Online registration for the webinar series is currently open. This webinar series is free and open to the public.

Rocky Mountain National Park hosts one of the largest research programs in the National Park Service, with nearly 100 research permits active each year. Park research partners come from other federal agencies, the State of Colorado, and universities around the world.

Each webinar will focus on one resource topic. Researchers will present for 15 minutes each followed by a Question & Answer session during which time audience members can engage with presenters. A representative from Rocky Mountain National Park will be available to discuss applications of the research. Webinar topics include Visitor Use Management, Species Conservation, Riparian Ecosystem Restoration, and Fire and Forests.

To sign up for the webinar series and to see a more detailed program schedule, as well as to learn about past research conferences, visit https://www.nps.gov/rlc/continentaldivide/research-conference.htm

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Our environment is one of the aspects that makes Larimer County such a great place to live, work and play. If you know someone or an organization that has been a great steward of our environment, nominate them for an Environmental Stewardship Award.

The Board of County Commissioners and the Environmental and Science Advisory Board are taking nominations for the 2022 Environmental Stewardship Awards. Both individuals and organizations are invited to participate.

The nomination deadline for this year’s awards is March 27, 2022. It’s easy to nominate online, just visit https://www.larimer.org/boards/environmental-and-science-advisory-board/awards/nominate.

The awards recognize individuals, organizations and businesses that engage in activities which exemplify outstanding stewardship of our environment. These projects can be large or small, complex or simple and span a wide range of activities.  They can also be ongoing events or one-time activities.