Two Colorado K-12 schools have reported outbreaks of the new coronavirus since re-launching personal classes earlier this month, both involving infected staff members.
While only two schools made the weekly list of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s weekly outbreaks – updated Wednesday – have found more cases when they test students preemptively.
The health care department defines an outbreak as two or more cases of COVID-19 within two weeks linked to the same location as events.
Multiple students who tested positive on the first day of school would not count as an outbreak – unless there was evidence that they had all been to the same party a few days earlier, for example. If several students, like students and staff, test positive after spending time together in class and it seems likely that the virus is spreading within the school, that would be an outbreak.
Compass Montessori, a charter school in Jefferson County, reported two cases among staff members, and none among students, earlier this week. Battle Mountain High School, in Eagle County, also reported two personnel cases.
Two of the four outbreaks linked to Colorado universities that began this summer are still ongoing: one is linked to the Colorado State University athletics program, and another is linked to the fraternity. Kappa Sigma from that school.
Outbreaks appear to be exacerbated among University of Denver staff and athletes at the University of Colorado, which means no new cases have been linked to those institutions in at least four weeks.
To date, there have been relatively rare outbreaks in children in Colorado. Of the 590 outbreaks since March, 14 were in child care centers, two in summer camps, and each at a youth social gathering in Telluride, a religious conference aimed at adolescents and a youth sports federation.
The biggest new outbreaks were:
- Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health, an institutional treatment in Westminster: 32 cases
- iLending Direct, an Arapahoe County office: 22 cases
- Sky Ranch Horn Creek, a camp in Custer County: 16 cases
- Vision and Movimiento, a workshop-style event in Denver: 13 cases
- The Landings, a building site in Pueblo: 10 cases
Other notable new outbreaks were Fremont Correctional Facility, a Colorado Springs Police Department and the family’s offices.
No deaths have been reported in connection with this week’s outbreaks.
