State Changes to Vaccination Phases

The state has updated its guidance on vaccine phases. That updated guidance can be found here. The state will move to phase 1B.2 starting February 8th. The state is estimating that by March 5th we will move to phase 1B.3. 

  • Phase 1B2 includes Coloradans ages 65-69, as well as PreK-12 educators and child care workers in licensed programs. 
    • They will be eligible to receive a vaccine beginning on February 8th. 
  • Phase 1B3 includes frontline essential workers and Coloradans ages 16-64 with two or more high risk conditions. 
    • They will be eligible to receive a vaccine beginning in early March. The State estimates vaccinations will begin for this group by March 5th.

State Updates to the Dial

The state has indicated that they will likely be updating their Covid dial system. At this time, it appears that the changes will likely not change the restrictions in each level, rather it will change the thresholds for the metrics around hospitalizations, case count, and positivity. We hope to know more sometime this week.

Virtual Town Hall

We gave a brief update on the cases and vaccination progress in the county. That can be found here.

Our next Town Hall meeting will be at 4:00 PM on Monday, 2/8. Sign up ahead of time here.

If there is a topic you would like to see covered, please email ideas to, pio@gunnisoncounty.org.

Community Survey

We ask that you fill out the Gunnison County community survey. We would like your feedback as we continue to navigate the pandemic.

Community Survey – https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/9FWVPFS

Spanish Community Survey – https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/932QFQ9

Travel and Quarantine Guidance

Gunnison County continues to recommend that anyone who travels out of the county for more than 24 hours to quarantine for 7 days upon their return to Gunnison County. We also recommend that visitors who come into the county isolate for 7 days prior to their arrival. 

The state has updated guidance for individuals that have received two doses of vaccine and 2 weeks have elapsed since the second dose. These individuals will no longer have to follow quarantine protocols when travelling or are exposed to a positive case. Instead, they will be directed to monitor for any symptoms and isolate and seek testing should any symptoms present. Individuals who are fully vaccinated will still be required to follow the commitments of containment.

Update on Positives

All of this data lives on our data dashboard here.

As of noon today, our numbers are at 1,113 positive, 10,826 negative, and 38 pending tests as of February 1st. 

We continue to meet two indicators for a move to yellow. Our positive cases and our positivity continue to be well above our coronameter thresholds. While positive cases are at a concerning high level in our community, our ability to give care is still in a good place so we remain in our local blue level restrictions.

While most of the state has seen a decline, mountain communities have continued to have higher case incidence rates than the rest of the state. The state is monitoring this data to determine if additional steps need to be taken in these communities.

Vaccines

We have added a field at the top of our data dashboard that shows how many individuals we have vaccinated with a first and second dose in Gunnison County. This number will be updated on a weekly basis on Tuesdays.

Please fill out our vaccine interest form that is live on the vaccine information page on our website. We are building this database so that we can efficiently and equitably administer the limited vaccine doses that we are receiving. 

Community Testing

We are making a tentative schedule for regular community testing. 

The plan is to have one testing event per week that alternates between north and south valley.

While this schedule is not yet finalized, we are anticipating a schedule similar to this.

  • Saturday, February 13th at the Crested Butte Community School, from 9:00 am – 4:00 pm.
  • Friday, February 19th at the Gunnison County Fairgrounds from 7:00 am – 3:00 pm. 

Following this, the schedule will repeat itself on a weekly basis with testing in Crested Butte on a Saturday and then testing in Gunnison on the following Friday.

We also intend to do an extended community testing event following spring break. 

  • Friday, March 26th at the Gunnison County Fairgrounds, 7:00 am – 5:00 pm.
  • Saturday, March 27th at the Crested Butte Community School, 9:00 am – 5:00 pm.

State Exposure Notification App

The state’s new exposure notification app is now live. Info on how to set it up can be found here. Even a small uptake of the app in our community can positively impact our outcomes. While alone it won’t be a game changer, combined with our other tools- social distancing, masks, hand hygiene- we can continue to reduce the spread.

Testing Site

The main testing site is located at Gunnison Valley Health and is open Monday through Friday. Testing requires an appointment ahead of time. 

The testing site is located in the large north entrance parking lot and operates out of a shed. We ask that you please contact the Call Center in advance to schedule an appointment at 970-641-7660.

Call Center: 970-641-7660

The Call Center is open from 8 a.m.-12p.m. and 1 p.m.- 4 p.m. Monday-Friday.

Here is an infographic of the Call Center call tree.

For those needing assistance outside of those hours, please leave a message. There will also be someone monitoring the callcenter@gunnisoncounty.org email. 

Delivery Assistance

We can help you arrange deliveries of groceries from City Market’s Pickup program, food bundles from the Gunnison Food Pantry and prescriptions from City Market or Walmart pharmacies. We ask that you only use this service if you are at risk and isolating at home, ill with COVID-19 symptoms or quarantined because of exposure. Deliveries are made by drivers trained to handle your order safely. 

To arrange for a delivery, please call Senior Transportation Dispatch at 970-641-7959 Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Grocery deliveries can be scheduled Monday through Friday.

Prescription deliveries can be called in throughout the week but will only be delivered on Tuesdays and Fridays for the Gunnison area and on Tuesdays for the Crested Butte area. Special arrangements may be made in the case of an emergency.

Food Pantry bundles can be requested throughout the week but are only delivered on Tuesdays and Fridays in Gunnison, and on Tuesdays for the Crested Butte area.