Banner Health’s Chief Clinical Officer has clear message on COVID: the pandemic isn’t over. Here’s what that means for Greeley.
Banner Health’s Chief Clinical Officer, Dr. Marjorie Bessel, spoke at a press conference Tuesday, August 3, 2021. Courtesy photo.
By Kelly Ragan
At a press conference Tuesday, Banner Health’s Chief Clinical Officer, Dr. Marjorie Bessel, had a clear message: the pandemic is not over.
As cases begin to tick up, Bessel encouraged folks to get vaccinated if they haven’t and to mask back up indoors – even if they’ve received the vaccine.
That’s not exactly welcome news (yes, we are all tired). But Bessel offered a health care provider’s insight to where we are, where we’re going, and what we can do about it.
The Delta variant is fueling the spread of this virus in the United States, she said. It’s highly transmissible and has caused some breakthrough infections among the vaccinated. But, she stressed, that doesn’t mean the vaccine isn’t working.
“The COVID vaccines are still highly effective in preventing serious illness and death,” Bessel said. “This is demonstrated by the low rate of hospitalizations and deaths of vaccinated individuals across the country. Roughly 97% of COVID hospitalizations and 99% of deaths are individuals who are unvaccinated.”
Virus status in northern Colorado
The good news is that the Delta variant isn’t yet a huge player in Weld County. The other good news is that Banner isn’t seeing the same kind of rise in hospitalizations in northern Colorado as it is in Arizona, where the hospital system is based.
“Northern Colorado, at this time, has only seen a 20% increase in hospitalizations in the month of July,” Bessel said.
Things are worse in Arizona. Since July 1, Bessel said, COVID hospitalizations have increased by 95% and ventilator usage has increased by 300%.
According to state epidemiologist Dr. Rachel Herlihy, unvaccinated folks accounted for 80% of COVID cases, 87% of hospitalizations, and 92% of all deaths statewide.
What can we do right now?
If you haven’t yet, Bessel said, get vaccinated.
“In addition, please pull your masks out of retirement for the time being,” Bessel said. “I know that we were all thrilled to hear after months ago that they were no longer necessary, but as you have witnessed throughout the pandemic, COVID is a resilient virus, and newer mutations of the virus pose a serious threat due to low vaccination rates across the country.”
What should we look for in the coming weeks and months?
Bessel recommends folks continue to look at local percent positivity rates and hospitalization rates to best gauge the local COVID situation.
As of Wednesday, Weld County’s one-week average positive test rate (the number of tests taken in relationship to the tests that proved positive) was 7.28%, according to the Weld County Department of Health and Environment’s website.
For context, in 2020, before the vaccine rollout, Greeley-Evans School District 6 used positivity rates as a metric for considering switching to 100% remote learning. A 10% positivity rate or higher was the threshold at the time.
The 14-day rolling average of COVID-19 hospitalization rates per 100,000 residents was at 0.9 as of Wednesday.
Remember, getting case numbers to zero isn’t the goal (and is largely impossible).
The “North Star,” as Gov. Jared Polis calls it, has always been to avoid overwhelming the hospital system.
With vaccines in the picture, positive case numbers should have less of an influence on how many people get hospitalized.
But there are still a lot of unvaccinated people in Weld.
According to the health department, just about 54% of Weld’s 16+ population is fully vaccinated.
Will this year look like last year?
Bessel said that for now, neither the Colorado nor the Arizona hospitals are close to the peak they experienced in July 2020 and January of 2021 – but that doesn’t comfort her much.
“The slope of what we’re starting to experience looks very, very similar to the exponential growth we experienced during those two large surges,” Bessel said. “However, we have a new tool available to make sure that we do not get to that level of surge. It’s called a vaccine. Please get vaccinated as soon as possible if you are not already vaccinated against COVID-19.”
What about masks in schools?
Greeley-Evans School District 6 will *not* require masks during the upcoming school year, though it “strongly” recommends unvaccinated folks mask up.
Districts across the state have adopted a variety of approaches to masks.
Poudre School District in Fort Collins announced Wednesday it would require all students and staff to wear masks for the 2021-2022 school year, according to CBS 4.
Westminster Public Schools announced it will require masks for all students, staff and teachers, according to Chalkbeat, regardless of vaccination status.
Adams 12 Five Star Schools will require teachers and staff to wear masks regardless of vaccine status, and will be recommending – but not requiring – students wear masks, too.
Chalkbeat also reported that Jeffco Public Schools will require masks for children 3 to 11 for unvaccinated teachers and staff. Masks will be optional for vaccinated staff and older students.
As for Bessel, her recommendations are in lockstep with the Centers for Disease Control.
“I am going to continue to advocate for what the CDC has as guidelines out there for all of us to stay as safe as possible,” she said. “So it is CDC guidance that children that are in school should be masking up.”
What about the vaccinated who feel frustrated?
Bessel said she knows this is a difficult and disappointing phase of the pandemic. She said she acknowledges and feels that sentiment.
“I would just remind all of us to think about the decisions that led you to get vaccinated. Hopefully it was to protect yourself,” Bessel said, “but also part of that I hope was for you to be able to protect others. And that’s what masking up indoors now for those of us who are vaccinated is all about, to give a little bit of an additional layer to protect yourself but also to help protect others who are still yet unvaccinated.”