Ideal Dermatology in Loveland has been added to the state list of coronavirus outbreaks by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
The medical office, which recently changed its name to Lake Loveland Dermatology and moved to 1708 N. Boise Ave., has had five employees who tested positive for COVID-19, according to information from the state Department of Health website and office. of dermatology.
The outbreak was identified Tuesday and the office closed voluntarily on the recommendation of the Larimer County Department of Health and Environment. A team will clean and disinfect the entire office during that shutdown, an employee said.
“We closed for three days on his recommendation, we closed voluntarily,” said the manager of the practice, who declined to give his name. “We will reopen on Friday.”
The practice manager reported that Ideal Dermatology believes that employees working in the programming department and call center were exposed to an outside location and brought the virus to work.
All of the positive employees worked in those two departments, which are located in their own closed areas, and as soon as the cases were discovered, anyone who had contact with them was transferred to work from home, according to the manager of the practice.
“We have not had a positive case for a week,” he said, adding: “We have no patients, clinical staff, or providers who have tested positive or shown symptoms.”
Katie O’Donnell, a spokeswoman for the Larimer County Health Department, confirmed: “None of the positive cases had contact with the patient.”
The practice manager emphasized that Ideal Dermatology has been following all guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention throughout the pandemic and that it closed for additional cleanup this week as a precaution. She emphasized that she believes the office has been safe for patients and staff and will continue to be safe when it reopens.
While the doctor’s office is listed on the state’s health website as an outbreak, it has not yet been added to the Larimer County Health Department’s list of outbreaks. They are still in 10, including six other companies with active outbreaks and four long-term care facilities that have been resolved, meaning they have had no new positive tests for at least 28 days.
The total number of positive and probable cases in Larimer County has increased by five to 677. The new cases were listed on the website on Wednesday but are dated Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. All are residents of Fort Collins, three 23, one 22, and one 33.
The number of suspected cases increased by one to 241. The suspected cases are residents who tested positive for coronavirus through an antibody test but who never had symptoms and are no longer able to transmit the virus.
The death toll has not changed to 29, and there are still six people admitted to Larimer County hospitals for COVID-19 treatment.
For updated information, visit larimer.org/coronavirus.
