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Boulder County releases COVID-19 recovery numbers, state totals remain unknown

Posted at 11:45 AM, Mar 31, 2020
and last updated 2020-03-31 14:18:06-04

BOULDER COUNTY, Colo. — Of the 100 people who have tested positive for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Boulder County, 41 have recovered, the county announced Tuesday morning.

This is one of the few times a Colorado county has reported the number of people to have recovered from the virus.

The county added that the ages of the people who tested positive ranged from teenagers to residents in their 80s. The average age is 45.

Recovery statistics have been scarce throughout most of the state.

READ MORE: All Denver7 coverage of the novel coronavirus outbreak

As of Tuesday morning, there was no data available from the state on the number of people who tested positive for the virus and recovered.

During a phone press conference on Tuesday, Scott Bookman, COVID-19 incident manager with Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, confirmed they don’t have those numbers yet.

“We are working with local public health agencies and partners in the health care environment to identify the best way to start identifying recoveries,” Bookman said. “It’s a slightly complex number to get to identify hospitalized vs. non-hospitalized, so we need to do some work.”

In addition, on Tuesday morning, Boulder County Public Health said that it had learned a resident in their 70s who had tested positive for COVID-19 had died. This was the second person to die from complications related to the virus in the county.

Boulder County Public Health Director Jeff Zayach said over the next few weeks, residents should expect to see a “rapid increase” in the number of people who test positive.

“Now, more than ever, it is vital that we all follow the Colorado Public Health orderand stay at home as much as possible,” he said. “The more we all stay home, the more successful we will be at stopping this virus from spreading and causing illness and death in our community.”

As of Monday at 4 p.m., the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment said more than 15,300 people have been tested across 47 counties. Of those, 414 people have been hospitalized and 51 people have died. Marc Moss, MD, who works in internal medicine at UCHealth and is the CU Anschutz Department of Medicine Vice Chair for Clinical Research, said there are likely thousands more cases in Colorado.

However, in 80 to 90 percent of the positive cases, the person won't need to be hospitalized, Moss said. They can treat themselves with over-the-counter medication while staying isolated.

For more information about COVID-19, call CO-Help at 303-389-1687 or 1-877-462-2911 or email COHELP@RMPDC.org. Stay up to date with the latest COVID-19 news through Denver7’s live blogs — you can read Tuesday’s live blog here.