Coronavirus (COVID-19) Local News

The goal is to have 70% of Colorado residents ages 70 and older vaccinated by the end of February, Polis said Friday. 

The grant program, which the county is administering in partnership with local governments and nonprofits, is limited to restaurants, caterers, movie theaters, gyms, recreation centers and bars, including breweries, wineries, and distilleries, according to a news release. 

Officials are also investigating a fourth suspected case of the variant that emerged in Britain, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment said Thursday.

The hope is that by identifying positive cases more quickly, those people can isolate before they expose many others. That would reduce the number of people who have to quarantine, as well as reduce the risk of transmission. 

Indoor dining opened everywhere in Colorado on Monday.

Gov. Jared  Polis at a news conference Wednesday outlined the expected vaccination timeline, which has been a source of some confusion after it was updated last week to include more people in the first phase.

Boulder County economic development agencies, chambers of commerce, the public health department and government authorities will present a joint application to the state to operate and administer the program. An administrative committee is scheduled to meet Thursday to begin the application process.

The updated direction will halt vaccination of school staff and other essential workers in Colorado after this week, said Karen Miller, the nurse vaccine manager for the TriCounty Health Department, which serves Adams, Arapahoe, and Douglas counties.

Officials use wastewater samples to predict COVID outbreaks within a three-to-eight day window.

The district did not disclose how many students are returning to school and how many will continue learning remotely. It did, however, say the numbers it expects today are similar to what it saw at the start of the first semester before the switch back to fully remote learning in November.