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Coronavirus in Colorado: Latest COVID-19 updates from May 2-3, 2020

Denver7

Live updates from the Denver7 team on the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Colorado.

By: The Denver7 Team

Posted at 10:23 AM, May 02, 2020

and last updated 2020-05-04 07:24:34-04

NOTE: This is the live blog from Saturday and Sunday, May 2 and 3, 2020. Click here for the live blog from Monday, May 4.

There have been more than 800 COVID-19 deaths and over 16,000 confirmed cases of the virus in Colorado as the state slowly starts to reopen amid protests for quicker restriction rollbacks.

Click here for the latest update on the number of cases, the age, gender and location of presumptive positive, indeterminate and confirmed cases from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

Below, we're updating this blog with the latest information regarding COVID-19 in Colorado.

Latest updates:

Sunday, May 3

5:33 p.m. | Procession held to honor paramedic who died of COVID-19

More than 80 emergency vehicles and four helicopters were part of a procession Sunday night to honor Paul Cary, a Colorado paramedic who died from COVID-19 in New York City after volunteering to be deployed to the city to help healthcare workers there. Cary’s body arrived at Denver International Airport around 7 p.m. and was then taken to a funeral home. Emergency personnel and citizens lined the streets to pay tribute to Cary as the procession traveled to Olinger Hampden Mortuary & Cemetery, where a small ceremony was planned.

Tribute to Aurora paramedic who died of COVID-19 answering call to help

Saturday, May 2

4:08 p.m. | Latest COVID-19 data for Colorado

Here were the latest coronavirus numbers for Colorado released Saturday afternoon, with the change from Friday in parentheses:

16,225 cases (+457)
2,793 hospitalized (+46)
56 counties (+0)
78,179 tests (+2,920)
832 deaths (+12)
163 outbreaks (+2)

2:42 p.m. | Colorado receives second decontamination unit

Colorado received a second decontamination unit from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The state's second unit was set up in Montrose inside the Friendship Hall on the Montrose County Fairgrounds. The Battelle Critical Care Decontamination System is a self-contained, mobile decontamination unit that uses vapor phase hydrogen peroxide to decontaminate N95 filtering facepiece respirators from biological contaminants, including SARS-CoV-2.

Photo of first Battelle system delivered to Adams County Fairgrounds.

11:38 a.m. | CDHS announces testing results from Veteran’s Community Living Center at Fitzsimons

Testing done Wednesday on all staff and residents of the Veteran’s Community Living Center at Fitzsimons in Aurora shows two additional staff members and 16 additional residents have tested positive for COVID-19. This brings the total positive cases at the center to nine staff members and 23 residents, three of whom have died from the virus, according to the Colorado Department of Human Services.

CDHS worked with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) and the State Emergency Operations Center to have the National Guard perform testing of all staff and residents to identify any additional COVID-19 cases and asymptomatic carriers.

The CDHS said they have taken extra precautions to prevent the spread of the virus at the center, including:

Extra hand hygiene, disinfection of surfaces and increased infection control education specific to COVID-19
Screening staff for symptoms at the start of every shift
Physical distancing measures, including stopping all group activities
Stopping all non-essential entry into the facility
Universal mask wearing of staff; Residents encouraged to wear masks
Frequent checking of symptoms and vital signs including oxygen levels for residents

10:32 a.m. | AP: Most states fall short of coronavirus testing thresholds

(AP) An Associated Press analysis finds most states are not meeting the minimum levels of coronavirus testing suggested by the federal government and recommended by public health researchers, even as many of them begin to reopen their shattered economies. Three months into the public health emergency, the White House has largely resisted calls for a coordinated plan to conduct the millions of tests experts say are needed. States are being left to devise testing programs mostly on their own. Without robust testing, public health experts say states will be unable to detect outbreaks quickly enough to contain them.

10:29 a.m. | Haircuts, in person shopping allowed in much of Colorado

(AP) Getting a haircut and shopping in person at retail stores are allowed again in much of Colorado now that the state has eased more restrictions set up to stop the rapid spread of the coronavirus. Stricter stay-at-home orders remained in place for most of the Denver area on Friday. But some shops in nearby Castle Rock opened their doors with safety precautions, such as requiring customers to wear masks. They attracted customers eager to get out. But the return to commerce was spotty. Hair salons in the area chose to remain closed. The city's outlet store complex was open but with only about a half dozen stores operating.

Coronavirus | Denver7

11:45 AM, Feb 27, 2020