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Howdy, #Boulder. It's city council night, and tonight we've got some COVID news (I see lots on testing in the presentation) a concept review for the Hill hotel and a revisit of petitioning.
I'm told two new campaigns filed with the city clerk today: One on changing the way mayors are selected (which we've been hearing about for months) and one called "Protecting the Community From Pandemics By Limiting Density" which I had not heard of until today.
I'll have to do my research, but obviously that group is basing their argument on the fact that recovery went faster/better in well-known low-density locations like *checks notes* Tokyo and Seoul, South Korea.
What really matters, tho, is how the new filings might be handled by city council, which tonight will vote on whether to hold a public hearing and vote to place ongoing petition efforts on the ballot in August/September.
The other campaigns have been working since January (No Eviction Without Representation) and mid-March (End the Muni and Bedrooms Are For People).
Also, while I have you, I want to give a shout-out to the 5th graders who hosted me in a virtual presentation today. They've been working on designs for amenities (garden, culinary maker space, etc.) at the new NoBo Library.
These kids were AMAZING. They had done their research, had some killer ideas and even dove into some sticky subjects that perplex Boulder adults. All with grace an enthusiasm. They gave me hope for the future.
Councilwoman Friend is walking the other council members how to add a virtual background.

Councilman Swetlik is demonstrating his backlit couch.

Oh what fun we have in virtual meetings.
Getting started now. All council members' cameras are on, per the rules.
The muni is being added to the agenda tonight, Mayor Weaver announced. I'm not allowed to tell you what it is (it's embargoed) but let me just say... You will want to tune in for that.
Something I didn't know: The Mayor follows a script in leading meetings.
Starting with the COVID briefing. Here's the presentation: www-static.bouldercolorado.gov/docs/COVID_Bri…
Jeff Zayach, director of BoCo public health: "Just a reminder, until we have a vaccine or treatment, we'll likely be in social distancing and masking scenarios. ... We're going to be living with this for some time."
"The key to how successful we will be moving forward" is continued social distancing and face coverings, Zayach says. "It has made a difference. ... Our trend is continuing in a positive direction."
Zayach referencing the restaurant that opened for Mother's Day in Colorado that has now had its license revoked. "That's the worst kind of scenario we can be in."
If someone was positive there, Zayach says, "it would take a lot of work and a lot of time to be able to track all those people down," quarantine them. "That is the kind of spread, the kind of scenario we do not want to get into."
"To keep our economy and businesses open ... it's really critical we maintain that 6 ft of distance."
Praising Polis for emphasizing the importance of mask use and social distancing.
Zayach: I felt comfortable with stay-at-home expiring on May 8 bc transmission is still decreasing, even with increased testing and ID'ing more positives.
"We feel pretty confident we will be able to handle surging cases" in terms of contact tracing and hospital capacity, Zayach says. COVID hospitalizations are decreasing.
"Our businesses have been incredible partners," Zayach says. "They've stepped up to the table" in following guidelines.
775 cases in BoCo
144 hospitalized to date
297 recovered
54 deaths
Long-term care facilities still account for the majority of deaths: 42
224 total cases in LTCF

But the spread is "slowly" decreasing, Zayach says.
Five-day average of new cases is "steadily going down." But it will likely increase as testing does, Zayach reminds council.

BoCo has done 4,503 tests to date.
"We learn new information daily with this virus, bc it is novel," Zayach says. "We're hoping this virus doesn't expand and impact other populations more severely" like it has older adults and those with underlying conditions.
"We still have community-wide spread happening," Zayach says. That means they don't know exactly where exposure happened.
Zayach keeps cutting out. It's not you.
He's going over racial disparities. Latinx have always been disproportionately infected and hospitalized in BoCo, but now that group also has more fatalities than their share of the population.
Latinx: 13.8% of BoCo
44.3% of COVID cases
42.2% of hospitalizations
16.7% of deaths
Dr. Chris Urbina, BoCo's chief medical officer, is here for the first time. I saw him at an early press conference. V impressive guy.
"We've done really an outstanding job in Boulder County," Urbina says. "I expect that to continue."
Urbina: "Over the last several weeks, we've seen a tremendous expansion of our testing."
We are beginning to test the "contacts" of COVID positive cases, Urbina says. "We're beginning to see a significant number of ppl who are asymptomatic."
Would love to see some local data on that in the next presentation :) @bouldercohealth
Forgot this: 13.69% of BoCo's 4,503 tests to date have been positive
Urbina going over antibody (serological) testing, which is part of the county's plan. Phase 2

"Bc this is a novel virus, we're still learning about the efficacy of (this) testing."
Bc this is a novel virus, we still don't know what a positive serological test means, Urbina says. "It's not a diagnostic test" .... Even if you test positive, "I can't tell you whether or not you're immune."
We're evaluating the effectiveness of such testing now, Urbina says. "Long-term, I think serological testing will be very useful."
BoCo's 13.69% positive rate "is not bad," Urbina says. That should drop as we ramp up testing.
It's already shown decline, according to slide 21. The five-day rolling average positive %
Dr. Ben Keidan, BCH's chief medical officer, is standing in for Dr. Rob Vissers, who is usually here.
"We're starting to see a significant decline" in COVID hospitalizations, Keidan says. "We have significant capacity."

44 patients admitted in the last 8 weeks, usually 2-4 at a time.
10% are in ICU, typically, Keidan says.

"We have significant capacity if there is a significant surge" in COVID cases at BCH, he repeats. All BoCo's hospitals "have significant capacity at this point."
Keidan: "Testing capacity is much improved from even a week ago. We are now able to test any symptomatic patient. ... Our next step is to start testing contacts .... so we can help get ppl back to society and normal functioning."
Young: How does testing address essential workers? Are ppl who are more at risk but asymptomatic more likely to get a test?
Urbina: "We're hopeful" to start testing essential workers as capacity expands.

A long answer and felt like a bit of a dodge. Young repeating her question.
Young: As soon as you have more testing available, you will address essential workers?
Urbina: "That is correct. That is really our plan ... we couldn't offer that" before bc tests required a doctor's note.
Keidan: "I think it's a little more complicated. If you test ppl (for COVID, not antibodies) you have to test them repeatedly" bc they can be exposed at any time.
Keidan: "I can't imagine ... we'd have to test every city council member every week to really be effective, so I don't think that's really been worked out."
Wallach asking about when we'll have even more testing.
Urbina: "You can't squeeze blood out of a turnip. Even tho feds say they are available, those tests are trickling in."
Urbina: "I wish I could give you a definitive answer."

Keidan: We were doing 30 tests a day. Now we're prepared to do 250 tests per day.

Target is 500. "I think we're pretty close to getting there."
Zayach: "There's no doubt we have capacity."

Clinic in Ned is now doing testing, he says.
Yates: Why is 150-200 tests per day, per 100,000 population the "magic number" as I'm reading in national press.
Keidan: "Once you can test symptomatic ppl and isolate their contacts... that's not everybody. It's a small number."
Urbina: We're using that number, based on Harvard and Colorado health standards.

"That's the minimum, not the maximum. ... If we can do more testing and expand, we would like to do that as tests become available."
Yates: What can the city do to help? Opening up parking lots or public spaces for testing...?
Urbina: "I think we're going to rely heavily on healthcare systems."
Urbina: "We're very close to producing that heat map" of available testing. We'll be able to let you know what we need.
Weaver: This 500/day goal is that all PCR tests?
Urbina: Yes. That's the only available test for if you have an active disease. As antibody testing becomes available, we can add to that.
Weaver: When we're up to 500 a day, who does that cover? Symptomatic, asymptomatic essential workers, LTCF and Latinx population?
Urbina: No
Urbina: Two targeted populations: Contacts of positive cases and long-term care facilities, "particularly the workers in those facilities."
"It's going to be significantly more than 500 tests per day .... we may having to be testing multiple times, this population, particularly in LTCF."
Weaver: Serology (antibody) testing ... you made it clear those are not available. When do we expect to see those locally?
Urbina: "It's available, but because FDA is approving only a small amount, they are available, but I think in terms of what they mean is the important thing. They are not a diagnostic test for the virus."
"As we learn more about the natural history of the disease, we'll learn more about what a positive test means and what a negative test means, as the accuracy of the tests develops."
"The only clear implication is to ID those folks who have recovered from COVID as potential antibody donors ... to give to ppl who are currently infected, which has been proven to show some positive results."
Keidan: We're offering them at BCH. "The data is in evolution .... (but) we believe it indicates previous infection and likely immunity for 9-18 months."
"It's partly for ppl's information. We're sharing that with public health and others," Keidan says. "It's going to get much bigger very soon, I believe."
Weaver: How many serological tests are being administered in BoCo or BCH right now?
Keidan: We've done a couple hundred. Most we expected to be positive were positive.
"We don't have enough numbers yet to really know that. There's bigger data in other environments, like California."
Urbina: We estimate there are a little over 1,000 serological tests that have been done in BoCo. We're trying to pull all of that data together.
Weaver: As you expand testing capability, do you need more sites? Can the city help? Or do you need funding?

"We would love to test as many ppl as would want to be tested."
Zayach: We actually have a fair amount of infrastructure in place to provide testing. (hospitals, urgent cares, clinics, etc.)
Zayach: From a standpoint of costs, using our healthcare facilities allows us to spend less $$ and get more tests done than a separate testing site.
Could get to 500+ daily with existing health infrastructure
Urbina: "We would never turn down money."
That wraps the health official briefing. City officials on COVID up next.

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