In recent weeks, Larimer County has seen a significant rise in COVID-19 cases.

According to a press release from the Larimer County Department of Health and Environment, the one-week case rate across Larimer County has increased from 103.7 to 227.2 cases per 100,000 residents, more than doubling over the last three and a half weeks. The positivity rate of COVID-19 testing in Larimer County also rose from 4.8% to 7.5% over the last two weeks.

Larimer County public health officials, along with local vaccine providers, are working to get enough of the community vaccinated to slow the increasing COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations occurring around the county.

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According to the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment, 1 in 196 Coloradans are currently infected with COVID-19. In Larimer County, cases are primarily increasing among age groups that are largely unvaccinated, including those between the ages of 16-49.

Health officials find the rise in COVID-19 cases to be especially concerning because of all the progress the county has made in terms of re-opening businesses and schools after cases in the county began to decline; the increase in cases leaves unvaccinated populations, including school-aged children, vulnerable to illness and also disrupts in-person learning.

The Coloradoan says that the Poudre School District (PSD) has reported more than 200 new COVID-19 cases just less than one month following the re-opening of all district schools for in-person learning. District data shows April has seen more students and staff in remote learning due to COVID-19 quarantines than it has in a full month since at least October.

As of Wednesday (Apr. 14), 2,779 PSD staff and students have been in remote learning due to exposure or a positive COVID-19 test result for at least a portion of April.

The COVID-19 vaccine is currently only available to Coloradans 16 years of age and older.

“It has been our priority to suppress the spread of the virus in Larimer County to reduce unnecessary illnesses, hospitalizations, and deaths. Keeping our businesses open and our kids learning in-person is also critical for our community to keep moving forward,” says Larimer County Public Health Director Tom Gonzales.

Vaccination, face coverings and proper social distancing have all proven to help slow the spread of the virus in the local community.

“The last thing our department wants to do is adopt any additional protective restrictions. We believe we are in the final push to get out of this pandemic, and we’re asking our residents to continue to wear a mask, social distance and make an appointment to get vaccinated, without delay. The sooner we can get to at least 65% of eligible residents having at least one-dose of COVID-19 vaccine, the sooner we can truly get back to normal,” says Gonzales.

While there is plenty of news and media information available, LCDHE is encouraging Larimer County residents to view the latest credible information on COVID-19 at www.larimer.org/coronavirus or www.CDC.gov/coronavirus. Residents are also encouraged to follow LCDHE’s Facebook and Twitter accounts at @LarimerHealth.

The NoCo Virus Tracker articles are made possible by our partners, the Keep NoCo Open campaign that reminds citizens to wear a mask, wash your hands, physically distance and support local as Northern Colorado recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic.

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