Cases make huge jump

NCHD gives behind-the-scenes look at data collection

Positive COVID-19 cases in northeast Colorado increased by nearly 400 in the last week. Northeast Colorado Health Department’s Monday afternoon, April 27, report listed 608 cases in the six-county region.

Logan County jumped from 23 to 262 cases. NCHD said the increases are primarily associated with targeted testing of inmates at Sterling Correctional Facility.

The facility has taken steps to prevent the spread of COVID-19, including confining inmates to their cells with meals and medications delivered to their living units, suspending all visitation except legal visits and granting early release to dozens of prisoners as a result of a March 25 executive order by Gov. Jared Polis.

Morgan County is also a hot spot for COVID-19. Its positive cases nearly doubled in the past week, reaching 328 in NCHD’s most recent report.

Phillips County gained one more positive case, bringing the current total to six.

Yuma County increased by three for a total of six, and Washington County stayed steady at six. Sedgwick County has yet to report a positive case.

On Monday, NCHD reported a total of 15 deaths in Morgan County and one in Logan County.

In a press release, NCHD said that one way to battle the spread of COVID-19 is to collect data but collecting that information has proven to be confusing and time consuming.

“We have to keep in mind that this COVID-19 response is unprecedented, something not seen in over a century, not since the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic. Technology and epidemiology have progressed substantially since that time; however, due to a number of circumstances, this has proven to involve added complexity in relation to case analysis. We are navigating through uncharted territory, which has been creating quite a few challenges in reporting the best information to the public and media,” said NCHD.

When viewing the positive or presumptive positive COVID-19 cases for each county on the NCHD website (www.nchd.org), there are several factors to consider, and the numbers can be somewhat deceiving.

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