2 years after first case, Colorado charts path forward as COVID cases slow

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- March 5, 2020, marked the first confirmed case of coronavirus in Colorado, the beginning of a two-year-long battle with the virus and multiple variants. Now, in March 2022, cases are dwindling and Coloradans have reached 91 percent immunity against the Omicron variant.

Recently, Colorado Governor Jared Polis announced the state's roadmap forward. The biggest takeaway was that households that are fully vaccinated, especially with all three doses, then they should feel comfortable to now proceed with life as normal.

KRDO Newschannel 13 sat down with Scott Bookman, Colorado's COVID-19 Incident Commander for the Department of Public Health and Environment, to discuss what Coloradans have seen in the last two years, and where we are heading from here.

KRDO: Saturday marks 2 years since the first COVID case was identified in Colorado. Can you reflect on what that day was like, and what’s happened since?

Scott Bookman: Obviously, it's been a long two years for everyone. I think first and foremost, we've lost a lot of lives over the course of the last two years. You know, those are family and friends and mothers and daughters and fathers. So I think we need to always take a moment to acknowledge all those that we have lost. I think we need to acknowledge the impact that this has had on all of society, how hard this has been on our children, on our frontline essential workers. This has been a hard, hard two years and we can't ever lose sight of that. I think simultaneously when I look back over the last two years, I'm just so incredibly proud about how Colorado has come together, and I do mean all Coloradans coming together to fight this virus. Public health is a partnership with the public. And so without people, following our recommendations around masking and testing and isolation, we wouldn't be where we are. 10th lowest death rate in the country, I think speaks to how we have come together to respond to this.

KRDO: The governor's announcement last week said people who are fully vaccinated and boosted can live their lives normally. Do you agree this is the stage we are at right now?

SB: Absolutely. In two years we have come a really long way. We now have tools that we never had before, and all of our models indicate a really high level of immunity right now, between what people have gotten through vaccination and boosting, along with the natural immunity from the Omicron wave where we saw a large spread of illness. We're at a point now where we are not worried today about the capacity of our health care system being breached. So yes, if you are a healthy person, everybody in your household is up to date on their vaccine, then this is the time where you have an opportunity to start living your life as normal, knowing that your public health department will always be here to be watching out for things. And if we need you to take action in the future, we will let you know.

KRDO: Do you have fears of another variant coming along and sending us back to square one? What’s the plan if that happens?

SB: Well, this virus has proven to be pretty tricky, right? We anticipate that it will continue to mutate and that new variants will come up. It's why in Colorado and across the country, we really see these robust surveillance efforts being undertaken with wastewater surveillance, whole-genome sequencing so that we understand what the new variant is, and we're prepared to respond to it. That response at this point is also different. It's booster shots, it's therapeutics. I mean, there are medications out there right now that reduce the risk of hospitalization by 90 percent. While I do believe that we need to be prepared in every way to scale our response back up, I am confident that the future doesn't look like where we were two years ago.

KRDO: Are we at the point where we can say COVID will always be with us, and we have to learn to live with it?

SB: I think it's fair to say that this is a virus that is going to be with us in some capacity for a very long time," said Bookman. "We do need to learn how to live our lives with this virus-like we do with many other viruses. Coronavirus has proven to be very tricky. It's killed more than 10,000 Coloradans. So we need to maintain a great deal of vigilance as we go forward.

KRDO: We have had lulls like this before, where things seemed to be going back to normal, and then another spike happens. But this time feels different. Would you say this is one of the most positive points we’ve had since March of 2020?

SB: It certainly is. I think all of the modeling has indicated that between the higher rates of vaccination and people who are boosted, along with the immunity conferred by having gotten the illness, we really are in a very different spot than we have ever been before. All of the modeling indicating that upwards of 90 percent of Coloradans have some type of immunity at this point really does put us in a very different spot, and pair that with the therapeutics that we have available for those who do get sick.

KRDO: Every day KRDO reports on the case and death numbers from COVID for southern Colorado. At least one day this week there were no deaths to report. What's your reaction to that news?

SB: Obviously any day where nobody dies of COVID is certainly a victory. And I think it also shows you where we are headed, which is a very different position today than we were six months ago, a year ago, certainly two years ago. I think our message to the public is, you really do have an opportunity here if you are up to date on your vaccines to really start moving forward with your life. If you live in a household with people who are immunocompromised, or your children aren't yet eligible for vaccination, then you need to talk to your health care provider. If you're immunocompromised, are you eligible for an additional dose? What is your plan if you get sick, to get therapeutics? We do anticipate that we will see the vaccine for our youngest population coming online here soon. And then obviously, for those who are not vaccinated, I will say it every day: today is a great day to go get your first shot.