STANDARD BLADE B R I G H T O N
SERVING THE COMMUNITY SINCE 1903
75cI
VOLUME 118
Issue 17
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 28, 2021
Learning the lessons of COVID-19 Frontline workers recall the challenges they faced while working to save patients BY BELEN WARD BWARD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
(This the first part of a two-part series, which continues on May 6.) The first cases of COVID-19 hit the United States in 2020 and it was declared a pandemic by March 2020, changing the world and how we live. But nowhere is the impact of the virus more apparent than with medical frontline workers from across the world who initially did not know what they were dealing with or its dangers. They learned in 2020 and learned quickly. “There was so much hype and fear with the hospital personnel. Just because we work in a hospital doesn’t mean that we don’t have fear,” said Wendy Colon, the Director of the Emergency Department and Emergency Manager for Platte Valley
Dr. William McNitt, left, inserts a tube in a patient, while Dr. Scott Hackman assists. The doctors worked long days wearing heavy COURTESY OF PLATTE VALLEY MEDICAL CENTER protective gear to protect themselves and patients.
Medical Center. “With this emerging virus, everybody was a little bit nervous.” The team at Brighton’s Platte Valley Medical Center joined together with doctors and nurses across the nation to combat the mystery virus.
Colon played a big role at Platte Valley, relying on her experience in emergency medicine and disaster emergency management when the pandemic hit. “I ended up in the position by moving into my career the way I wanted;
because, I have two loves, emergency medicine and disaster emergency management,” said Colon. Colon was very interested in emergency management and bioterSEE COVID, P5
State limits indoor crowds as COVID dial expires Many counties choose to continue dial restrictions on their own BY ELLIS ARNOLD EARNOLD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Colorado allowed its “dial” of coronavirus restrictions to expire as expected in mid-April, clearing the path for local public health agencies to decide what limits to enforce on businesses and other public settings. The stepping back of most staterequired limits came even as Coloradans found themselves in a fourth wave of COVID-19, with new cases and hospitalizations on the rise after months of decline. With increased vaccination rates, “the state’s role in continuing to
mandate statewide restrictions is lessening, and the role of local communities to regulate and manage the virus is increasing,” the state public-health department said in an April 16 news release. The state’s color-coded COVID-19 dial was the set of restrictions counties had to follow based on the local spread of the virus. The system affected capacity at restaurants, other businesses, indoor and outdoor events, and other settings. Colorado originally implemented the dial last Sept. 15. With the statewide order behind the dial now expired, Colorado issued a new public health order that maintains some limits on large indoor gatherings. Meanwhile, most Denver metro-area counties announced plans to continue level-blue limits, which were the second-least restrictive stage of the dial system. Those counties
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include Adams, Arapahoe, Denver, Jefferson, Boulder and Broomfield, according to the state’s news release. The decision for Adams and Arapahoe came when the Tri-County Health Department extended a modified version of the state’s dial system for one month. Tri-County Health covers those two counties and Douglas County, whose elected leaders voted to opt out of that extension during an April 13 meeting. Douglas was expected to no longer operate under any restrictions other than the new statewide order on large indoor gatherings. The county also remains under the statewide mask mandate. But if a county’s hospitalizations threaten to exceed 85% of hospital capacity, Colorado’s new public health order allows the state to require additional restrictions. Here’s a look at how the new health order affects large indoor
LOCAL
2 • Election season nears 3 for Metro Denver cities 7 and towns 13 17 • Page 3 19
SPORTS • Riverdale Ridge
hosts first college intent ceremony for student athletes
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gatherings. Mass events targeted Under the new statewide order, when more than 100 people gather in a room in a public indoor space, the setting may operate at 100% capacity or up to 500 people, with 6 feet required between parties of unvaccinated people or when vaccination status is unknown. The order took effect April 16. “Public indoor space” means any enclosed indoor area that is publicly or privately owned, managed, or operated that is accessible to the public, serves as a place of employment, or provides services. The term does not include a person’s residence, including a room in a hotel or a residential room for students at an educational facility. Under the order, existing “variSEE COVID DIAL, P9
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