Headlines May 21, 2020

Headlines May 21, 2020

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The Great American Beer Fest is the latest event to cancel due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The festival was scheduled for Denver in September and will now be a virtual event happening October 16 and 17.

The event which is usually held at the Colorado Convention Center can draw tens of thousands of people.

With Memorial Day weekend coming up, Governor Polis is asking people to recreate close to home, and to continue to practice social distancing.

The US Forest Service announced this week that some recreation sites will open later this month in Colorado. National Parks are also looking at how to reopen to the public.

The Rocky Mountain National Park says it plans to increase recreational access and services on May 27.

Portions of Moraine Park and Glacier Basin Campgrounds were scheduled to open Memorial Day weekend, they will now partially open on June 4.

Approximately half of the campsites will be available for reservations.

Aspenglen, Timber Creek and Longs Peak campgrounds will remain closed.

Trail Ridge Road will remain closed in an effort to curb the number of tourists who could potentially spread the novel coronavirus. According to the parks website Trail Ridge Road is closed to all travel until further notice due to COVID-19.

It’s been about two months since Mesa Verde National Park closed due to concerns of the coronavirus’ spread, but a phased reopening will begin Sunday.

Visitors will be able to drive up to overlooks to view the park’s famous cliff dwellings. But group tours IN the dwellings remain suspended. Some facilities like the visitor center will stay closed while trails and the campground open up. The announcement said those traveling through the nearby Navajo Nation to visit the park need to respect the nation’s health orders, including its nightly curfew and checkpoints. Mesa Verde has recorded about half a million visitors or more each year since 2014.

The Colorado Air Quality Control Commission is today considering proposals to phase out a class of greenhouse gases known as HFCs and adopt updated rules on reporting and tracking greenhouse gas pollution.

Boulder County is part of a coalition of other Colorado communities that is an official party to the rulemaking and is providing formal testimony during today’s hearing.

The rulemaking is a direct result of legislation adopted last year by the Colorado General Assembly establishing statewide greenhouse gas emissions goals, directing the Commission and other entities to update their regulations in order to meet these goals, and to dramatically improve how the state measures and tracks these emissions.

Cindy Copeland, an Air and Climate Policy Specialist with Boulder County Public Health says air quality is a major concern for this part of Colorado, and that is why the county is part of the coalition calling for strict rules on emissions.

“The American Lung Association does a state of the air report every year and last year Boulder County earned an F in that report as did a number of neighboring counties and communities and we are very concerned about that,” she said.

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There have been 3 cases reported in Colorado of an inflammatory disease related to COVID-19 that specifically impacts children. Dr. Sam Dominguez said at today’s press conference that Children’s Hospital in Denver is able to treat Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome. He said it is quite rare, but advised parents to be on the lookout for symptoms which include Experts at Children’s Hospital Colorado describe MIS-C as having features of Kawasaki disease, a systemic inflammatory disease of children, primarily seen in kids under the age of 5. Symptoms of Kawasaki disease include several days of high fever, rash, red eyes, red lips or tongue, red or swollen hands and feet and enlarged lymph nodes in the neck.

Doctors around the country are also reporting children experiencing severe gastrointestinal complaints including abdominal pain, vomiting, and diarrhea.

Dr. Rachel Herlihy, State Epidemiologist, advises parents and guardians to resume well-child care they may have delayed during the Stay-at-Home Order. “Pediatric and family practice offices are safe, open, and ready to care for your children,” she said. For more information, visit covid19.colorado.gov/well-child.

The City of Boulder announced Wednesday it is closing part of Boulder Creek, close to Eben G. Fine Park, effective immediately in an effort to reduce the community spread of COVID-19.

The announcement comes after a newspaper photograph showing dozens of young people gathered Monday along the banks of Boulder Creek. None of the sunbathers wore masks or practiced social distancing.

The closures include all park land and creek bed north of the Boulder Creek Path from the eastern boundary of Eben G. Fine Park to the western boundary of the city of Boulder.

Eben G. Fine Park itself will remain open.

The closures will be monitored by police and gatherings of 10 or more people will be asked to disperse.

The city of Denver is today announcing a large scale free coronavirus testing site outside the Pepsi Center.

The Denver Post reports that Mayor Michael Hancock and Colorado Gov. Jared Polis will be at the site later today announcing the logistics of the new testing setup which will be a drive-up facility.

Widespread testing for the coronavirus has been identified by Denver Mayor Michael Hancock as an integral part of the city’s path towards reopening.

Earlier this week Governor Polis announced that anyone in the state with symptoms of COVID-19 could get tested for free regardless of whether they have health insurance.

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