The University of Colorado’s Anschutz Medical Campus went to work across its vast network of idled labs and educational facilities, collecting more than 36,600 masks, 47,500 disposable lab gowns, 245,000 pairs of gloves and 50 cases of disinfectant wipes. The CU School of Dental Medicine pitched in with 130,000 pairs of gloves, 45,000 gowns and 35,000 masks.
The differences in the models is driven in part by the type of data they use in their projections. The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation model largely relies on death and hospitalization data. Whereas the state’s model relies on case data, said Elizabeth Carlton, assistant professor at the Colorado School of Public Health.
Projections by a Colorado School of Public Health volunteer research team anticipate 39,114 infections by Nov. 19, peak hospitalizations of 2,703 on Nov. 27, 379 deaths by June 1 and 6,639 deaths by Jan. 1.The team includes experts from the University of Colorado School of Medicine at the CU Anschutz Medical Campus, CU Boulder and CU Denver. They’ve been updating their projections as the virus spreads and more information becomes available.
“In retrospect, it’s clear the ski resorts had a high potential to play a special role in the spreading of this disease within Colorado,” said Glen Mays, an expert on large-scale public health threats based at the University of Colorado’s Anschutz Medical Campus.
“I’ve never seen anything like this in my career,” added Dr. Marc Moss, head of pulmonology at UCHealth Hospital at the University Colorado’s Anschutz Medical Campus, who joined Polis Monday. “There are intensive care units filled with people who look like you and me. And they were healthy a week and a half ago.”
“There’s always a potential for a resurgence, if there’s still people out there who are still sick,” said Kathryn Colborn, research director for surgical outcomes and applied research at the University of Colorado’s Anschutz Medical Campus.
“When you’re going to a restaurant, the onus is really on the restaurant to make sure the food is … being handled correctly,” said Elaine Scallan Walter, an associate professor of epidemiology with the Colorado School of Public Health. “If it’s being delivered, the onus is more on you and the transport.”
Now that there is evidence of community transmission in Colorado, public health officials will have to consider the risks of public exposure when making decisions on how to act, said May Chu, a clinical professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the Colorado School of Public Health. “When community transmission is of greater numbers this becomes more risky. The most vulnerable must be informed and social distanced. Those who are mildly ill (and ill) should avoid contact with the most vulnerable.”
