SUMMIT COUNTY, Colo — Summit County could be operating under level yellow restrictions as soon as Thursday, Feb. 25, if current COVID-19 metrics remain in place.
At a Board of Health meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 23, Dan Hendershott, Summit County’s environmental health manager, said the county will be able to petition the state to move to level yellow if all three of the COVID-19 metrics remain in that level or lower when the state updates the data dashboard at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 24.
County officials heard back from state officials on Tuesday that the change could be effective as soon as Thursday. Under the state’s new COVID-19 dial, which is referred to as Dial 2.0, data is looked at on a seven-day average as opposed to the old dial’s 14-day average.
Because of that change, counties only have to show metrics within a desired level or lower for seven days to move on the dial. Since Thursday, Feb. 18, the county has been showing all three metrics in level yellow.
As of Tuesday, the county’s incidence rate was at 232.4 new cases per 100,000 people, according to the state’s dial dashboard. The positivity rate — the percentage of positive tests out of total tests — was at 5.1%, which also falls within level yellow. The hospitalization data was within level blue on the dial with 12 days of stable or declining hospitalizations.
>>Watch video above: Summit County has system for drive-thru COVID-19 vaccinations.
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