Saguache Public Health Director resigns

SAN LUIS VALLEY — So far three deaths from the COVID-19 virus have been reported in the Valley two of these in Alamosa County. A third death was reported from Center Monday. The Saguache County Public Health Department announced their first COVID-19-related fatality. The individual was a confirmed case for Saguache County and passed away while in the hospital.

According to Saguache County Human Resources Director April Quintana, Saguache County Public Health Director Lynette Grant resigned earlier this week to accept another position. The County will advertise for a replacement for Grant soon, she said.

The San Luis Valley Emergency Operations site reported Wednesday morning that there are now 106 positive cases in the SLV including results returned from the outbreak in Center. “Sixteen of those cases were hospitalized and 32 have completed isolation. County case counts and other San Luis Valley data are updated weekdays at slvemergency.org/slv-covid-19

“Public health agencies in Rio Grande County and Saguache County continue to follow up on the outbreak at the Mountain King Spud Growers potato warehouse facility in Center. An outbreak is defined as two or more positive COVID cases in a workplace or other non-household facility or group.  Valley Wide Health Systems collaborated to support employee testing.

According to unconfirmed reports, two other Center potato warehouses could be affected after an employee at one warehouse tested positive.

“So far 25 positive test results have been received related to this outbreak. Those results will affect overall COVID-19 case counts in Saguache, Rio Grande and Alamosa counties. Mountain King has decided to voluntarily close the facility for an additional 14 days for cleaning, as well as to encourage needed isolation and quarantine to prevent further spread of the virus.

“Employees who have tested positive should be isolating themselves from others. Household members and other close contacts of those who have tested positive should also self-quarantine at home. Those in isolation and those in quarantine should not leave home for any reason except to seek medical care as directed by their medical provider.”

Change in reporting COVID deaths
The CDPHE/COVID website reports that the state is now separating out the cause of death in COVID-19 cases to indicate who has died with COVOD-19 and who have actually died from COVIOD-19. Beginning May 15, the department began reporting the number of deaths as follows:

• The number of deaths among people with COVID-19. This represents the total number of deaths reported among people who have COVID-19, but COVID-19 may not have been the cause of death listed on the death certificate. This information is required by the CDC and is crucial for public health surveillance, as it provides more information about disease transmission and can help identify risk factors among all deaths across populations.

• The number of deaths among people who died from COVID-19: This represents the total number of people whose death was attributed to COVID-19 as indicated on a death certificate. This number is determined by the CDC and is updated daily for dates through the previous Saturday.
The number of deaths due to COVID-19 and deaths among people with COVID-19 should not be added together.

The number of deaths due to COVID-19 are not necessarily included in the number of deaths among people with COVID-19. After review, at either the state or national level, some deaths may not be counted as COVID-19 deaths. This is rare, and the expectation is in the end, the numbers will closely align.