San Juan Basin Public Health warns that incidence rates of COVID-19 are rising in La Plata and Archuleta counties ahead of the Memorial Day weekend.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data shows community transmission in La Plata and Archuleta counties is still “low.” But the trajectory of wastewater monitoring data reported to the state shows community spread could rise to “medium” by next week, Liane Jollon, executive director of SJBPH, said Friday.
Jollon said as of Monday, La Plata County’s one-week incidence rate was 126 cases per 100,000 people, a positivity rate of 8%. In Archuleta County, the one-week incidence rate was 105, or a 15% positivity rate.
These rates could be lower than actual cases because the health department is receiving fewer positive reports than during other periods of the pandemic, which is the result of a huge increase in rapid at-home COVID-19 tests. When people take an at-home test they probably have other things on their mind – calling in sick, informing loved ones, their own health – than reporting to the health department, Jollon said.
Megan Graham, SJBPH spokeswoman, said earlier this month that wastewater monitoring is the health department’s earliest indicator of rising COVID-19 transmission and that positivity rates, cases and hospitalizations all lag behind wastewater data.
“So while the community level is not showing as steep an increase as the wastewater is showing, we anecdotally hear a lot of reports of positive cases,” Jollon said. “We’re hearing from providers in the community, both pediatricians and primary care providers, a lot of demand for (COVID-related) visits and services.”
Anecdotally, the health department can infer the real rate of transmission is likely higher than what its community data shows, and wastewater monitoring data backs that up.
Even Durango Mayor Barbara Noseworthy has caught COVID-19, she said at the Thursday public hearing about the citizen-initiated ordinance that seeks to require more public hearings for police and fire department developments.
Noseworthy attended the public hearing virtually by Zoom and told councilors she and her husband were isolating in separate rooms. They are traveling in London and are unable to fly home while isolating, she said.
She said they were recovering, but slowly.
Jollon said there are many indicators that this wave of COVID-19 is more significant than the CDC’s community level “low” indicates, and there are ways that people can protect themselves and their loved ones ahead of the holiday weekend.
She said being vaccinated and boosted are “extraordinarily important measures” to avoiding serious illness. She also advised taking gatherings with friends and families outside – something that might not be difficult given the favorable spring weather.
Local providers administering COVID-19 vaccines can be found at https://bit.ly/3GyJAIP.
Information about free community testing is available at https://bit.ly/3wRbmvD.
cburney@durangoherald.com
