Thread by @DenverChannel

Gov. Polis and the state epidemiologist are providing an update on the state’s COVID-19 response as hospitalizations continue to rise. Watch live: thedenverchannel.com/live2

Gov. Polis speaking about the election and saying he’s proud of the voter turnout and proud that voters overwhelming approved repealing Gallagher, lowering taxes and supporting pre-k.

Polis says we need to come together and move forward to be a stronger Colorado and America.

Onto #COVID19. We’re up to approximately 121,000 cases of the virus with an all time daily high of 3,369 nene cases today. A total of 2,158 people have died in Colorado. Hospitalizations are up 894 today, the highest ever in the state.

Polis said our attention might be distracted by the election and wildfires, but now is the time to reduce the toll. He said we were one of the first states to get the virus under control and were faring better, but there has since been a shift.

He said October has been the worst and more deadly and we can’t afford for this to continue into November. We need to do better like we were doing just a few months ago.

Polis said we’re working on more testing, including instant testing to help prevent spread from a symptomatic people. The new contact tracing app will hopefully be a good step as well, with 10% of Coloradans downloading it.

Dr. Rachel Herlihy, the state epidemiologist, now speaking. She discusses the three waves: spring wave, July wave and now the fall wave. We’ve routinely seen 2,000 cases per day last week and yesterday up to 3,000. It was lower in the spring, but we didn’t have the same testing.

She said we’ve now exceeded the spring peak of hospitalization. Herlihy believes more #COVID19 is circulating in Colorado right now. Most counties have seen a significant increase in the last two weeks, particularly in the last few days.

Herlihy said we’ve seen cases among older age groups significantly increasing and also in cases over the age of 40, which has translated to more hospitalizations in that age group.

Every week the hospitalizations are increasing faster than the week before and are projected to reach higher levels. She said we’re heading in the wrong direction.

We’re currently on track to exceed ICU bed capacity in late December. If that happens, hospitals need to switch to surge crisis of care. With upcoming holidays, there’s concern we’ll reach that capacity even sooner. We’re putting our health care system at risk if we continue.

Back to Polis. He reemphasized the fact that #COVID19 is spreading faster than modeling predicted. He said we need to buckle down and avoid gathering with people as much as possible.

They’re now showing a video that features Herlihy. They’re asking Coloradans to only interact with people in your household, keep a distance of six feet at all times and wear a mask.

Polis reiterated Herlihy from the video. Interact with only others from your household. No friends, house parties and avoid others. Keep your distance. Wear a mask.

He said we need to buckle down and only associate with our own household. Tell your friends. He recognized we’re all tired of the virus, but, “the virus isn’t tired of us.” Every time Coloradans decide to stay home, wear a mask, not invite friends over, they’re saving lives.

If we don’t make these changes, Polis said the toll will be immense. We have work to do until we can embrace one another once again and we’ll get there together. He’s now onto answering questions.

The first question is why the state isn’t putting in restrictions? Polis said just because your county may not be in a bad place on the dial, you should still avoid social interactions. He said Colorado is doing its part as a state with rapidly expanding instant testing.

Polis said we’ll encounter people who are contagious and we need to treat interactions as such.

Another question is whether a shutdown is imminent. Polis said different counties are taking different measures to mitigate. He said we’re now severely underperforming after we were overperforming. There’s no action the county or state makes that can keep people from socializing

In response to a question about some counties starting to make changes, Polis said that it’s a reasonable step to reduce indoor occupancy at a local level. He said it comes down to individual decisions. Counties and state can’t determine what you do in your own home.

The next question is if Colorado is facing a catastrophe similar to New York. Polis said if we continue the way we are, then we’re well on our way to that. Our hospitalizations aren’t at that level, but it will get there if we don’t take action. We have to cancel social plans.

Next question is whether the governor would consider travel restricts and/or quarantine visitors? Polis said it’s rampant here. Currently 1/100 Coloradans have the virus. It doesn’t matter where anyone is from we need to treat everyone like they’re contagious.

The next question is about whether he’d consider a stay at home order. He encouraged Coloradans to only have Thanksgiving in the household. With where we are now, he’d advise people to make plans for a non-traditional Thanksgiving with only people in your household.

Now, a question about when alternative care sites will be activated.? Polis said not there yet. The immediate danger is ICU beds. Beds can be activated in a week, but not a call we’re making today. “Colorado, I love you. This is an intervention.”

The next question is regarding some testing sites reaching capacity very early in the day? Polis said we have plenty of testing, so if a site is running out, they should connect with the state.

Another question for more details on Thanksgiving and travel. Polis said the most dangerous part isn’t really the travel, it’s where you’re going, what you’re doing and what the people your with have been doing.

The next question goes to Herlihy on what data is driving the rapid increase in transmission? Herlihy said COVID fatigue is occurring. We see spikes around holidays. More Coloradans are moving indoors. It could be related to a change in seasons. There’s a lot we don’t know.

Next question is about possible protests and the concern of gathering. Polis said he’s always concerned from a health perspective on any gathering. To wrap up the press conference, Polis said we need to show resolve and that we’re better than the virus. “Let’s get through this.”