Thread by @shayshinecastle

Up now: Health briefings from BoCo Public Health. You can find all 3 here: documents.bouldercolorado.gov/WebLink/DocVie…

For the first time, the COVID briefing is NOT all about the numbers... they aren't even in there, except in graph form.

Cases continue their steep downward trend.
211.2 new cases per 100,000 people, down from over 2,000 just a month ago.

And our test positivity is 4.7%! Which is where we want it. I mean, ideally we want 0 but under 5% is considered good.

You can find those numbers (and more) here: bouldercounty.org/families/disea…

Tonight's COVID briefing is about policy. BoCo dropped its mask mandate on Friday, joining other counties in the Denver metro. (Pitkin County will follow at the end of this week)

5 states still have universal masking orders, according to the county.

Benjamin: Why did you remove mask orders for children younger than 5? They're not eligible for the vaccines.

Indira Gujral: We had a "robust debate," but with the number of cases dropping so quickly, the board felt it was OK to remove the mandate for all children.

Here's who the board is, in case you're curious: bouldercounty.org/government/boa…

That decision was made in part bc 92% of the total BoCo population has received at least one dose of the vax, and 97% of the 5+ population.

"This is a number we are pretty proud of," says Trina Ruhland.

Organizations and businesses can still choose to require masks if they like, but it's not required.

There are still some state/federal orders in place, such as on public transit, healthcare facilities and congregate living or care facilities.

So you have to wear a mask on the bus, or a plane. Or in jail.

Masks are still *recommended* by BoCo public health officials (that's never changed) but not required.

And people may still choose to wear masks for personal, health or other reasons, Ruhland says. So be nice to them.

Actually the slide says "Please be courteous to others" but you get the point.

Speer: Folks with disabilities or who are high risk, "I think there is a concern that folks are going to need to self isolate as we go back to not wearing masks. ... How can we support those folks in our community?"

Gujral: "It does fall on the individual to make sure they're are protecting themselves. And that is a shift."

You do have to assess your risk in terms of gathering with people, not knowing vaccination status" of others. "I think that makes it hard for a lot of people."

But "with the vax rates being as high as they are in our community," we are looking pretty good, Gujral says.

Gujral: I think in the next couple of months, people "will start to feel comfort they haven't in a while" as cases continue to fall.

Benjamin: Since we are empowering daycare centers and schools to make decisions, in part based on the numbers, how are we facilitating that with information? Is there somewhere with more granular data that could be helpful?

Gujral: We do have a lot of that data, and we put it out weekly. We track it by age demographic. We did have to stop tracking cases by race and ethnicity during the recent surge bc "the volume was so high, staff couldn't keep up."

We have weekly meetings with our schools and long-term care facilities, Dr. Gujral says. "All those relationships aren't going away."

Suggests that public health officials are anticipating another increase in cases this fall.

Gujral: "Last year, we were really celebrating: Our numbers were down, we were 70% vaccinated. And then Delta hit. And then Omnicron hit. These are changing landscapes."

That is the end of this COVID update.

@threadreaderapp please unroll. Thanks!