A year with COVID changes Colorado

March 5 marked one year since the state lab discovered the first case of COVID-19 in Colorado, and what a year it has been.

Closures, cancellations, capacity restrictions, mask mandates and more have set this period of time apart from others in recent memory. Churches, schools, restaurants, theaters, gyms, salons and other facilities all needed to adapt to changing restrictions and mandates. Businesses reinvented how they provide services just as individuals redefined their family and social gatherings.

The April 30, 2020, edition of The Holyoke Enterprise shared results of a survey seeking to document the local impact of COVID-19. As of April 27, 2020, a total of 42 businesses had responded to the online survey. Less than half of those who responded had remained open with normal business hours. About one-third closed temporarily and 19% stayed open with limited hours.

For the purposes of the survey, businesses operating at one-fourth of normal business were considered to be highly impacted. Half of normal business was medium impact, and three-fourths was low impact.

Of the businesses that participated in the survey, more than 45% reported that COVID-19 had a high impact on their business, 28.6% reported medium impact and 11.9% reported low impact.

In a year that brought many difficulties and much heartache, there were also many bright spots as communities banded together to support one another through trying times.

In Holyoke, free meals were available to children throughout the school closures. The Help Holyoke fund was established to help businesses and employees impacted by the pandemic. Over $90,000 was raised to help affected industries in Holyoke.

Two cruise nights saw restaurants featuring specials for to-go meals for community members who turned out for some fun amid COVID-19 restrictions.

A timeline of events

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment said the state lab had a testing capacity of 160 when it began operations Feb. 28, 2020, but it was analyzing far fewer samples than 160 because the initial criteria for testing set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were so strict.

Since that date, state and private labs reached a combined high of conducting over 66,000 tests in November. Now, with the utilization of over 120 community testing sites, over 2,533,000 people have been tested and over 6 million tests administered.

Shortly after the World Health Organization declared a pandemic March 11, 2020, the first COVID-19 fatality in Colorado was announced March 13. As of Sunday, March 14, 2021, CDPHE listed 6,072 deaths due to COVID-19 in Colorado.

Last year, the Colorado High School Activities Association canceled the state basketball tournament after the first day of action Thursday, March 12. CHSAA later announced the cancellation of the 2020 spring season.

CDPHE ordered all bars, restaurants, theaters, gymnasiums and casinos in Colorado to close effective March 17.

On March 30, Northeast Colorado Health Department announced it was investigating the first positive COVID-19 test result in Phillips County.

As the number of cases climbed, Gov. Jared Polis issued Stay at Home orders March 25 to be effective the following day. Originally set to go through April 11, it was extended on April 9 until April 26.

Safer at Home began April 27, lifting some restrictions while leaving others in place. Polis informed Colorado school superintendents on an April 21 conference call that all schools were to stay closed for in-person instruction for the remainder of that school year. Graduation ceremonies for the HHS class of 2020, originally planned for May 17, were pushed back to June 21 and held at the football field.

Although things looked a lot different for the class of 2020, community members got creative to find ways to honor them.

May 17 featured a graduation parade, where family, friends and supporters gathered at the event center parking lot and then drove by the houses of graduating seniors. Families were encouraged to decorate porches, and grads were outside in their caps and gowns. Announcements regarding scholarships and future plans were made on Star 92.3 as the parade passed by each house.

May 20 saw Phillips County granted a variance from the Safer at Home order, which allowed churches, restaurants, gyms, movie theaters and bars to open for in-person services with guidelines and capacity restrictions. Churches, restaurants and bars were limited to 50% capacity at the time, and gyms could have 30% of their capacity. On June 1, Safer at Home was replaced by Safer at Home and in the Vast, Great Outdoors.

Phillips County applied for Protect our Neighbors certification July 13 but ultimately abandoned it due to the requirement to enforce the guidelines and public health orders.

On July 16, Polis issued an executive order mandating Coloradans 11 and older to wear masks inside public spaces. This order has been extended every 30 days since.

The state introduced the county-level dial Aug. 28, and its purpose is to allow local communities flexibility to protect their residents and economies.

Phillips County was moved to Level Orange: High Risk on the dial Nov. 13. At that time, positive COVID-19 cases had really increased in the area. Melissa Memorial Hospital staff members were performing no fewer than 25-30 tests per day at the time, and many days saw a 50% positivity rate.

Also on Nov. 13, NCHD officials pointed out on a conference call that all northeast Colorado counties but Yuma were seeing increases in positive cases.

This eventually led to NCHD issuing a local public health order Nov. 23, which allowed Phillips County to remain at Level Orange: High Risk and provided the county more time to turn around the increasing COVID-19 numbers to prevent the county from going to Level Red: Stay at Home.

Initially set to expire Dec. 23, the local PHO was extended through Jan. 23, 2021. However, it was rescinded Jan. 4, when all counties in Level Red on the dial were moved to the less restrictive Level Orange.

Colorado placed its first COVID-19 vaccine order Dec. 4, and Polis signed for the first shipment 10 days later.

Vaccines began to be administered locally Jan. 4, vaccinating highest-risk health care workers and individuals. A little later, 108 people were vaccinated at the Jan. 21 vaccination clinic at MMH.

Dial 2.0 went into effect Feb. 5. CDPHE noted that the reworked COVID-19 dial was introduced after meeting with local public health agencies, county commissioners, mayors and city managers and after feedback was taken via a public web form.

Phillips County was moved to Level Blue on the dial effective Feb. 6 at 9 a.m., and it remains at that level.

While the pandemic is by no means conquered, the continued rollout of vaccinations  to broader portions of the population points to positive changes on the horizon.