During a news conference Tuesday the Gov. Jared Polis announced that nearly 500,000 Coloradans had at least received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. He also said that 226,461 people over the age of 70 had at least one dose administered bringing the count halfway to the state’s goal of having 70% of people in that demographic vaccinated.

Colorado currently ranks 13^th in vaccine distribution and has the eighth-fewest new COVID-19 cases in the country. Gov. Polis stated that although Colorado has a relatively high rate of infections at around 1000 new cases reported daily that the number, “hasn’t been going up.”

Coloradans who are age 65 to 69 will be eligible to receive the vaccine potentially as early as next week. The next phase of vaccine rollout will also include anyone working directly with children in preschool to grade 12 and child care workers will be eligible for the vaccine starting Feb. 8. The state is encouraging individuals who are educators or child care workers in a licensed program to work with their employer to get vaccinated rather than a local provider.

Currently, only health care workers, first responders and people over 70 are eligible.

Gov. Polis also commented on individuals 18-64 with two or more preexisting conditions that have been shown to increase the risks of contracting the virus, like lung disease and diabetes may have access to the vaccine by March 5. However, Polis was quick to say, “…don’t put stock in that date, we hope it will be sooner….we just don’t know the quantities we’ll receive,” referring to shipments from the federal government of the vaccine.

Additionally, The Colorado Restaurant Association announced that restaurant workers will be included in Phase 1B.3 which is expected to happen in March and includes grocery store workers, faith leaders and transit drivers as they are considered essential workers.

For information on receiving the vaccine in Colorado visit COCOVIDVACCINE.org or call 1-877-268-2926.

_______________________________________________________________

Health officials have reported a new outbreak at Creative Foam manufacturing in Berthoud, four cases have been confirmed at the business.

*Larimer County

• Total Cases: 17, 865 (+428 from last week)
• Total Cases in Berthoud: 772 (+18 from last week)
• Deaths: 139 (+16 from last week)
• New positive cases in 24 hours: 67
• 14-Day Case Rate per 100k: 279
• Hospital Utilization: 58%
• ICU Utilization: 74%
• 14-Day test positivity rate: 5.1
• Risk Score: High
• 4.92% of the population of Larimer County has been reported to have contracted the virus. Deaths attributed to the virus comprise 0.78% of reported cases. Of reported deaths 26% were age 75 to 84 and 51% were 85 and older.

*Case numbers as of Feb. 3, 2021.

__________________________________________________

Larimer County has been partially approved for a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Major Disaster Declaration and program funding due to the Cameron Peak Fire.

Next, Larimer County Emergency Management will meet with the Larimer County Board of Commissioners for specific projects and programs.

Programs that have been approved by the declaration include the FEMA Public Assistance Program that will help with public infrastructure damages including public roads, bridges, water infrastructure, and debris removal.

Larimer County continues to move forward with recovery in 2021 by partnering with the Natural Resource Conservation Service [NRCS] with the Emergency Watershed Protection Program. The county has contracted with NRCS to perform emergency work on waterways and drainage designed to protect property and people from excessive runoff caused by the fire due to snowmelt and rain.

A risk assessment is also underway as a companion document to the U.S. Forest Service Burned Area Emergency Response Assessment. The assessment will help determine where work is needed to mitigate flooding and debris flows. During the spring, suppression repairs will continue for the repair of dozer lines and handlines by using heavy equipment and emergency services personnel; property owners must give their permission for this work to continue.

_________________________________________________

*****Out of an abundance of caution, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) officials are closely monitoring visitation guidelines for residential care facilities in the state. Concern for the spread of the B 1.1.7 variant was the cause of the renewed focus. Health officials say cases of the new variant have remained a small percentage of overall  COVID-19 instances in the state.

Visitation guidelines for skilled nursing facilities, assisted living residences, intermediate care facilities, and group homes remain unchanged.  Mandatory visitation requirements for residential care facilities include details for ongoing COVID-19 surveillance and testing as well as strict parameters for when facilities can have in-person visitation limited to 45-minute visits.

A majority of deaths in the state from the virus last year were linked to long-term care facilities.

*****The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (CDLE) announced that it has begun rolling out the extended pandemic benefits provided by the Continued Assistance Act, which was signed into law by President Trump on December 27, 2020.

The legislation provided 11-week extensions of the federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) and specified changes to the programs. Additionally, the act reestablished the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) program, which will provide unemployment recipients with an additional $300 weekly benefit, and established the new Mixed Earners Unemployment Compensation (MEUC) program, which will provide an additional $100 weekly benefit to those receiving regular state unemployment benefits who have also suffered a loss of self-employment income.

As of December’s numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Colorado rose 2 percentage points in unemployment to 8.4%. The state unemployment rate was 1.7 percentage points higher than the national rate for the month.

On Thursday, January 28, the Department began contacting more than 230,000 claimants with instructions on how to reopen their PUA or PEUC claims beginning on Monday, February 1, 2021.

Since mid-March, an estimated total of 780,847 regular initial unemployment claims have been filed and an estimated total of 1,032,471 claims, including federal PUA benefits.

*****CDLE estimates that fraud prevention measures have stopped an estimated $7 billion worth of fraudulent unemployment claims. These numbers were assuming that each attempt at fraud would have paid the maximum amount of benefits allowed per individual.

Reports to law enforcement in Berthoud alone would confirm that fraud unemployment claims are rampant, a sentiment echoed by the labor department. The state has received 80,000 fraud reports from victims and employers. The enormity of the issue also makes accurate reporting on the pandemic unemployment rates more difficult.

The false claims not only affect those whose personal information is stolen to file the claim but also the businesses who pay premiums into the unemployment system.

The state has launched a new unemployment system with multiple triggers to catch fraudulent claims before any money is transferred to try to stave off criminal activity.

The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment reports benefits paid since March 29, 2020: 

Regular UI $2.60 Billion
Week ending January 16: $20.6 Million    
Week ending January 23: $23.9 Million  

Pandemic Unemployment Assistance
(gig workers/self-employed) $1.06 Billion

Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation
($600/weekly UI benefits to eligible claimants) $2.51 Billion

Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation
(extends unemployment benefits by up to 13 weeks) $360.5 Million

State Extended Benefits
(extends unemployment benefits an additional 13 weeks) $29.7 Million

Lost Wages Assistance
($300/weekly UI benefits to eligible claimants) $389.2 Million

Total $6.94 Billion

____________________________________________________

The final, official count of the preschool through 12th-grade public school student population in Colorado confirms the state student population had its first decrease in year-to-year enrollment in over three decades due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the Colorado Department of Education announced last week.

Overall, Colorado schools posted an estimated 3.3% decrease in enrollment this fall compared to 2019 with 30,024 fewer students in preschool through 12th grade. The figures show the total statewide enrollment for preschool to 12th grade was 883,199 when students were counted in October. The last time the state saw a decrease in pupil enrollment was the fall of 1988.

The largest decreases were in the earlier grades with 8,009 fewer students in preschool for a 23.3% drop and 5,800 fewer kindergartners for a 9.1% decrease. An estimated 13,833 fewer first through fifth graders were counted in Colorado schools in 2020 compared to 2019 — a 4.2% drop.

The number of students reported as home-schooled doubled with 15,773 students counted this fall compared to 7,880 in 2019. A total of 32,034 students registered in online educational programs this year – 9,586 more students than 2019 or 43% increase.

Approximately 140 of the state’s 178 school districts reported drops in enrollment with nearly 40 districts reporting increasing enrollment, according to the data released today by CDE.