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SENTINEL EXPRESS C O M M E R C E

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SSUE 48 47 ISSUE

EEK OF OVEMBER 24, 24, 2020 2022 TW UESDAY , NNOVEMBER

New COVID-19 restrictions will prohibit indoor dining, personal gatherings

Early-season snow off to good start in high country Children facing

early, intense respiratory virus season BY JENNIFER BROWN THE COLORADO SUN

A fox ventures through the snow on Conifer’s Shadow Mountain.

PHOTO COURTESY OF DEBBIE FORD

the median from 1991 to 2020, and 142% in the Colorado River headwaters area specifically, according to SNOTEL data compiled by the Natural Resources Conservation Service. The averages were slightly higher elsewhere on the BYcars CHRIS OUTCALT A long line of outside the city of Brighton’s testing site at Westernrapid Slope. THE COLORADO SUN Riverdale Regional Park. The site has hadStill, to close earlyamany in recent there’s long days way to go. Typically, on Nov. 9, Colorado weeks due toon high Snowpack thedemand. WesternAdams SlopeCounty’s 14-day test positivity rate is 8% of the way to achievwas as ofbut Nov.experts 17, accordingabout to Tri-County Health Department. is off15.9 to apercent, good start, ing statewide median snowpack, caution cult to draw Brightonit’s anddiffi Commerce City’s test positivity rates were both higher than Lukas said. Right now, the state many meaningful conclusions 13 percent. Forty-five people in Brighton and 29 in Commerce City have is about 12% of the way there, he from snow-covered, high-country died from COVID-19 related health issues. To But, limit Lukas the spread of COVID-19, said. cautioned that peaks early inmoved the season. at leastthis 15 counties to tighter restrictions that prohibits indoor and there’s very little correlation be“It’s kind of like leading a footpersonal tween mountain precipitation in ball gamegatherings. by a field goal halfway October and early November and through the first quarter,” Jeff the final totals across an entire Lukas, an independent climate snow season. researcher, wrote in an email. Belen In aboutPhoto a thirdby of the pastWard 35 As of early November, the years, early-season snow totals statewide snowpack was 140% of looked something like they do

Too soon to get excited, but snowpack is 140% of average

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so far this year, Lukas said. The season-ending snowpack across those 12 years, however, runs the gamut, from a handful of average years to a very good 1995 and a dismal 2012. By Ellisit’s Arnold Nevertheless, better to have snow on the ground than not, he Colorado Community Media said. “Every little bitcounties helps. continue Just to As Denver metro like a fi eld goal early in the first inch closer to local stay-at-home orders quarter,” he wrote. “But it needs under Colorado’s system of coronavirusto be followed upthe with lot more related restrictions, stateaannounced scoring.” a new level of rules that prohibits indoor Given the challenges facing the dining and personal gatherings —a Colorado River, water managers change that applies to the majority of the across the region will be watchDenver area andespecially many counties in ing themetro snowpack other regions. closely this year. More than 40 The state’s COVID-19 dial, which has million people rely on the snow that accumulates high upisin been in effect since September, thethe set of different levels of restrictions that each SEE SNOW, P15

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An alarming number of Colorado children with the respiratory virus called RSV are filling emergency rooms and intensive care beds as the state experiences an “early and intense” start to the flu season, state health officials and Children’s Hospital Colorado warned. “It’s truly like nothing we’ve ever seen before at Children’s Hospital Colorado,” said Dr. Kevin Carney, a pediatric emergency physician and Children’s associate chief medical officer. The hospital’s in-patient and ICU beds across the state are operating at or above maximum capacity, and emergency room and urgent care visits for respiratory illness are 30% higher than the busiest days of a normal flu season, which typically runs January through March. Children’s is now postponing surgeries and other procedures in order to have the staff and county to follow based the spaceistorequired treat children withonRSV, severity of a county’s local virus spread. the flu and COVID-19, he said. TheStatewide, dial grew outthere’s of the state’s safer-ata shortage home order — the policy that came after of available pediatric intensive the statewide stay-at-hometo order this care beds, according state health department officials spring and allowed numerous typeswho of joined Children’s businesses to reopen. Hospital for a news conference. The number The state recently switched to color of available pediatric beds has identifiers — levels blue, yellow and hovered between zero and 5 orange rather than numbered levelsthe — to last several weeks, instead of avoid confusion. Until Nov. 17, level red the typical average of 22 open meant stay-at-homeHospital order. Now,and levelthe beds.aChildren’s red — “severe risk” — is the secondColorado Department of Public Health and Environment held Please see RESTRICTIONS, Page 2 SEE VIRUS, P2