Pueblo Health Officials address COVID-19 concerns; still no positive cases in the county

PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) -- Thursday morning Pueblo city leaders and health department met with members of the community and media to discuss growing COVID-19 concerns.

As of Thursday, there are more than 40 presumptive positive COVID-19 cases in the state of Colorado, but none were in Pueblo County.

“We have no cases here in Pueblo," said Chris Urbina with the Pueblo Health Department. "But I don’t have the answer to how many tests have been done so far. We’re still in the process of developing testing so as soon as we know that we will share that information.”

Pueblo Health Department officials say they are working with the state health department and CDC to obtain more test kits so more testing can be done locally.

There may not be any positive cases of the virus within the county so far, but the steel city has still felt the pandemic’s presence. Thursday, Pueblo Community College announced it is delaying the spring semester, while nursing homes like the Belmont Lodge Healthcare Center have suspended visitation hours for the foreseeable future.

Officials say they are working closely with school districts, health care providers, and local businesses, as Pueblo continues to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.

"You’ll notice I said mitigation, not containment," said Randy Evetts with the Pueblo County Health Department during Thursday's press conference. "Nationally and locally we are shifting to mitigation. That is slowing the progression of this virus in our community and state.”

For the time being, community leaders are asking Puebloans to use common sense.

“We had a concert here in Pueblo last night that I attended. At this point the health department hasn’t said we shouldn’t have those," said Mayor Nick Gradisar. "I think once we have a confirmed or identified case of the Coronavirus well have to take a second look at that.”