On Thursday, Dec. 30, Gov. Jared Polis authorized the activation of more than 200 Colorado National Guard members to support COVID-19 testing sites and other response and recovery activities.
That additional support began Jan. 1 at multiple sites across the state.
“With high prevalence of omicron in Colorado, we need to ensure Coloradans can access testing without long waits, enabling them to isolate, notify contacts and keep from spreading the virus to their loved ones,” Polis said.
According to the El Paso County Public Health Department, 1,420 people have died of the virus in the county from March 1, 2020, to Jan. 4, 2022. In that timeframe, 127,462 positive cases have been reported here.
Female patients continue to outpace males, with 65,795 positives among girls and women, and 60,971 among boys and men. The two genders are almost evenly split in El Paso County, with males comprising 50.1 percent of the population.
The 20- to 29-year-old age group still leads all others for positive cases, with 27,996 (45 percent of the total), even though those people comprise only 17.6 percent of the county population.
The 80- to 89-year-old group continues to lead in deaths, with 387 since March 2020. That group is 2.4 percent of the county’s population, but accounts for 37 percent of the deaths.
The 80829 ZIP code has experienced 622 positive cases since March 2020. That’s an increase of 71 cases since Dec. 1, 2021.
Information about local vaccination sites: www.elpasocountyhealth.org/how-can-i-get-a-vaccine. Information about local testing sites: www.elpasocountyhealth.org/covid-19-testing-information.