COVID-19 Update February 3

A return to the office finally looks like it will be possible in the near future. The optimism is based on three factors: case trends, vaccination numbers, and Governor Polis’ recent press conference.

Case Trends

As predicted in the last update, cases continued to spike upward after Governor Polis’ announcement that Colorado was reducing restrictions and moving to orange on its COVID-19 dial. Thankfully, the trend peaked on January 9th and has been steadily declining since January 12th.

This alone is not enough for us to return to the office. The 7-day average, while falling, is still roughly three times what it was when the pandemic first caused a statewide shutdown.

Vaccination Numbers

CDPHE is also reporting vaccination numbers now. Through yesterday, 472,655 people had been immunized with one dose and another 140,189 had been immunized with two doses. 9News reports that Colorado’s pace has been better than five of the seven states that border it, in part due to mass vaccination efforts like the UCHealth event held in the parking lot at Coors Field this past weekend. As a result, Colorado has moved from Phase 1A to 1B.1 and most recently to 1B.2.

Polis Press Conference

In Polis’ most recent press conference, he hinted that the combination of falling case rates and rising vaccination rates could lead to a lessening of restrictions in the next week or so. That would likely mean a move from orange to yellow on the COVID-19 dial, which would put our prior rotating office schedule back on the table. More on that when Polis actually updates the dial.

PS – Yes, my mother-in-law got her first dose and has an appointment to get the second dose!