COLORADO SPRINGS – A bridge tournament was responsible for fatal coronavirus exposure among older residents in El Paso County, which is currently leading Colorado with 11 deaths, health officials said.
The number of deaths is expected to increase among the county’s population of more than 700,000 people, including large communities of older and at-risk residents, The Gazette reported Tuesday.
“It’s not necessarily how many people get it, it’s who gets it,” county Deputy Medical Director Leon Kelly said, adding that fewer deaths would be reported if the community can limit exposure among residents older than 60.
As of Tuesday, 2,966 cases of the coronavirus have been confirmed in 50 of Colorado’s 64 counties and 69 people have died.
For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death.
The first outbreak in the county was connected to a multiday bridge tournament in Colorado Springs where an infected woman is believed to have made contact with about 150 people, Kelly said. Another bridge player who was exposed to the virus then attended a choir practice where another 100 people could have been exposed, he said.
The woman who attended the tournament and three others died from the infection, while the hundreds of other people were warned about their potential exposure, epidemiologists said. It is unclear how the woman contracted the disease.
The county health department has continued efforts to slow the spread, including warning people about potential exposure and working with and providing 15 long-term care facilities with protective employee equipment, Kelly said.
Kelly also noted that the county’s 245 virus cases is behind about two weeks and is not reflective of the true number of infected residents.
In other developments:
At least around 830 workers did not report for work Monday at JBS USA’s beef plant in Greeley, but the company disputed their union’s claim that the absences were in reaction to hearing that at least 10 workers there have been confirmed to have COVID-19, the Greeley Tribune reported. The number of absences on Mondays since area schools closed because of the outbreak have averaged around 500, JBS USA spokesman Cameron Bruett said. He said there have been some people who have been found to have coronavirus in a few of its facilities but declined to provide details.
