All El Paso County variances back intact, and cases are trending down
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- COVID-19 cases in El Paso County are heading in the right direction, but health officials are warning the public to stay cautious.
After the state health department released a new "dial dashboard," the El Paso County Health Department announced all variances requested by officials were back intact.
"We couldn't achieve this without everybody in the community taking a role and an active part in it," Doctor Robin Johnson, medical director for the health department said.
The county currently sits at a Safer at Home Level 1: Cautious, the second-highest status allowed in the state.
In August, a variance that allowed 175 people in an indoor space was scaled back to 100 people with the exception of houses of worship. On Wednesday, the county said, "cautious returns El Paso County to the capacity levels it had achieved with its approved variances" and now it has been "folded into the new dial framework."
"As of September 16, El Paso County’s two-week positivity rate is 2.42%," the release explained. But with the good news came concerning trends.
"Individuals between the ages of 20 and 29 account for almost a quarter of cases," and "there have also been recent rises in cases among individuals 60 years of age and older."
Johnson says they're currently tracking where cases in older folk are coming from, and say it doesn't appear to be from senior living facilities.
"It looks like it's more in the community spread, not those facilities but we'll be diving a little deeper into making sure that we understand that fully, that we aren't missing anything else," Johnson said.
Looking ahead, Johnson says they are still learning how many people got sick from large gatherings on Labor Day Weekend.
"I would feel more reassured that we wouldn't have any reverse in our trending if the numbers were still going down but the fact that they're kind of flattening makes me go... hmm," she explained.
Look at the El Paso County Health's latest numbers here.
