Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) is under fire as the Colorado GOP called for a bipartisan investigation into the administration’s response to the coronavirus outbreak in nursing homes late last year.
This announcement comes on the heels of an investigative report from Ben Markus in the Colorado Public Radio (CPR) last week. The article unveiled several revelations about how Polis and his administration handled the outbreak that snaked its way into nursing homes and wiped out over 1000 people in a matter of months.
“Colorado nursing homes reported 1,118 COVID-19 deaths between November and January to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services,” Markus said in the article. ”Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, Colorado had the worst rate of death per occupied nursing home bed in the U.S. It was twice the rate of death as the national average, according to the federal data.”
The report explained how Colorado’s state lab, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), was largely “maxed out” by October 28. Additionally, CDPHE reported on a call with county health agencies one week later that contact tracing was largely “overwhelmed,” leaving the department unable to properly warn people who were in contact with those who were COVID-19 positive. This information was reportedly kept under wraps as COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes surged.
“As these systems started to break down, county public health agencies begged Polis and CDPHE to order counties into stay-at-home,” Markus wrote. “CDPHE was pushing for ‘gradual implementation of restrictions’ even as the virus was spreading out of control. The state waited 15 days before increasing COVID restrictions, and outbreaks at nursing homes doubled in that time.”
It also shared that Polis declined three separate requests to partake in the investigative report.
“Those deaths were driven by an inability to keep the virus out of nursing homes after the state’s system for testing and contact tracing in the homes collapsed.” Markus wrote. “Gov. Jared Polis and the leader of the state’s health department never revealed to the public that the state’s lab was overwhelmed or that the state’s nursing homes had become, however briefly, the deadliest in the nation. They maintained that any shortcomings in the state’s performance against the virus resulted from personal choices made by Coloradans.”
On Friday, Colorado GOP Chairwoman Kristi Burton Brown released a statement calling for bipartisan support to investigate the Polis administration’s COVID-19 response.
“The revelations revealed in yesterday’s CPR story highlight disturbing questions about the Polis Administration’s COVID-19 nursing home response. The apparent negligence and incompetence shown by senior members of this administration is tragic and likely cost lives in nursing homes across our state” Brown said in the statement. “Today, I’m calling for a bipartisan investigation into the Polis Administration’s COVID response. The families and loved ones of those we’ve lost deserve the truth.”
One example occurred at Four Corners Health Care Center in Durango. Nine months into the pandemic, the first case of coronavirus at the facility was confirmed. Hours later, the second positive case under the same roof emerged.
From there, the virus spread like wildfire. The number of COVID-19 positive residents spiked to 84. The death toll climbed, with La Planta County Coroner Jann Smith deploying to the facility multiple times per day.
“We were going over there two, three, four times a day there for a little while,” Smith said to CPR news. Weeks later, the death toll was finalized at a total of 24. So many that a freezer truck was utilized to store some of the bodies as the outbreak raged on and the numbers ascended.
Unfortunately, this specific example mirrors the reality of several Colorado-based nursing homes throughout these months of the pandemic. Markus explained that 189 outbreaks swept nursing homes throughout the state between mid-October and early January.
However, Colorado is not the only state that suffered significant loss of life in nursing homes due to COVID-19. New York and Virginia both had lots of COVID-19 positive residents in nursing homes, many of whom did not make it. And even with a vaccine available now, there’s still a chance at a “fourth wave” of the virus, as Markus explained in the article.
“As variants of the coronavirus proliferate, there remains a risk that one of them may mutate beyond the reach of current vaccines,” Markus wrote. “Knowing how Colorado fared compared to other states, and where the response fell short, can serve as a guide to preparations for a fourth wave if, or when, it arrives.”
Read Markus’ Twitter thread explaining the development of the story below:
THREAD ...
— Ben Markus (@CPRMarkus) June 24, 2021
Earlier this year I was working on a story about the "third wave" of COVID in Colorado. Not an investigation, just a look at the craziness the state found itself in: cases rising, Polis tests positive, counties want stay-at-home, etc.
Suddenly that changed ...