As delta variant cases surge throughout Boulder County and the nation, public health officials on Friday updated their guidance to recommend everyone 2 years and older wear masks indoors regardless of coronavirus vaccination status.
“Cases of COVID-19 are surging in Boulder County due to the delta variant,” said Camille Rodriguez, Boulder County Public Health executive director, in a news release issued Friday evening. “We are continuing to follow a variety of metrics, including the CDC’s guidance, data and recommendations that will help us protect the health of all people, keep our businesses open and preserve our hospital and health care resources. In line with CDC recommendations, Boulder County Public Health strongly recommends that all individuals wear masks indoors in public due to prevalence of the delta variant, which is highly transmissible and might cause more severe illness than prior strains in unvaccinated persons, including in younger populations.”
On Wednesday, just 16 days after moving into substantial transmission on July 26 on the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s transmission tracker, Boulder County moved into high transmission, which is the highest level on the tracker, a Boulder County Public Health news release said. The CDC recommends that all individuals, including vaccinated individuals, wear a mask indoors in public in counties with substantial or high transmission.
Boulder County Public Health spokesperson Angela Simental said Friday afternoon that Boulder County was still classified in the substantial transmission category, according to CDC data. By Friday evening, it had moved into high transmission.
“We were like ‘Oh my God. Let’s check all of this out,’” she said. “This change happened today. It changed in a few hours.”
Simental said BCPH’s guidance is ever-changing because of how quickly delta variant cases are spreading.
“We are recommending (masking) at this point because it is an evolving situation,” she said. “We are looking at different metrics and data. Like 16 days ago we were not in this surge. Delta is really changing the panorama at really rapid rate.”
The Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment first detected the delta variant in Colorado in April, the release stated. On July 18, CDPHE variant tracking indicated that the delta variant is responsible for more than 95% of new COVID-19 cases in Colorado.
On Monday, the county’s current status of level clear will end, Simental said. During level clear, which took effect May 16, BCPH monitored hospital admissions to dictate when protective or mitigation strategies needed to be implemented. Moving forward, the county will be looking at all metrics including cases, deaths, outbreaks and hospitalizations.
“Previously, hospital admissions dictated the dial, but given that the delta variant is quickly changing conditions, we must look at the evolving data and information concerning delta to formulate the best strategies to safely keep our community open,” Rodriguez said in the release.
BCPH encourages everyone eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine to get vaccinated as soon as possible because vaccines are effective in fighting variants and strongly recommends wearing a mask while indoors, the release said.
Additional background about the delta variant includes:
- The delta variant is the predominant strain in Colorado.
- The delta variant is two to three times more transmissible than the strain circulating last summer.
- On average, people infected with the delta variant had 1,000 times more copies of the strain in their respiratory tract as compared to those with other strains of the virus.
- Someone catching the delta variant is more likely to become infectious sooner and spreading the virus earlier in the course of the infection.