THAT'S
THAT'S WELL UNDER OUR WEEKLY AVERAGE ABOUT TWELVE HUNDRED NEW CASES A DAY.
THERE'S CERTAINLY PLENTY
OF REASON FOR CAUTIOUS OPTIMISM
THOUGH THE VARIANCE THE VIRUS
THAT ARE POPPING UP ARE
CONCERNED YOUR NAME LEE THOMAS
WROTE IN ASKING US TO DISCUSS
THE IMPACT OF THE VARIANCE.
MY COLLEAGUE CHRIS VANDERVEEN
HAS SOME QUESTIONS ON THAT.
IT'S A GREAT SUBJECT.
LET'S GET A LITTLE TECHNICAL
FOR A SECOND TO TALK ABOUT
SOMETHING THAT REALLY NOT JUST
WORRIES ME BUT A LOT OF PEOPLE
IN PUBLIC HEALTH RIGHT NOW.
IT'S GOING TO BE A WORK YOU'RE
GOING TO HEAR A LOT MORE DAYS,
WEEKS, MONTHS TO COME.
THE TERM VARIANT I'M GOING TO
GUESS IF YOU DON'T KNOW IT NOW
YOU SOON WILL BE SO FIRST LET'S
PUT THE WHOLE THING INTO NEARLY
FOUR HUNDRED THOUSAND POSITIVE
CASES.
START THIS BACK IN MARCH.
FOUR HUNDRED THOUSAND THAT'S A
LOT.
THAT'S THE GREEN HIGH GREEN
PART OF THIS PIE CHART.
THERE'S A LITTLE WHITE SLIVER
UP AT THE TOP.
THAT'S THE TOTAL NUMBER
OF PEOPLE A STATE HAS FOUND
WITH THE VARIANT STRAINS
SIXTEEN IN ALL THIRTEEN
OF WHICH ARE THE VARIANT THAT'S
TIED TO THE UK.
SO SMALL NUMBER.
SO WHAT'S A BIG DEAL?
I ACTUALLY WANT TO TURN TO DR
RACHEL HARLEY, THE STATE
EPIDEMIOLOGIST.
I WANT TO START WITH THE SIMPLE
QUESTION WHY SHOULD WE
CARE ABOUT VARIANTS RIGHT NOW
WE'RE GETTING A LOT
OF ATTENTION IN THE NEWS.
WHY IN YOUR MIND SHOULD PEOPLE
START PAYING ATTENTION TO THIS
IF YEAH.
SO THERE'S CERTAINLY A LOT MORE
FOR US TO LEARN ABOUT THESE
VARIANTS THAT ARE EMERGING
ACROSS THE GLOBE RIGHT NOW.
BUT WE HAVE DIFFERENT CONCERNS
WITH DIFFERENT TYPES
OF VARIANTS THAT ARE EMERGING
SPECIFICALLY WE KNOW THAT SOME
OF THESE VARIANTS MAY BE MORE
TRANSMISSIBLE MEANING THAT THEY
MIGHT SPREAD MORE EASILY FROM
PERSON TO PERSON.
WE ALSO KNOW THAT THERE'S
THE POTENTIAL FOR SOME OF THESE
VARIANTS TO CAUSE DECREASED
VACCINE EFFECTIVENESS AND THAT
CERTAINLY WOULD BE A CONCERN
AND WE KNOW THAT THERE'S ALSO
THE POTENTIAL FOR SOME OF THESE
VARIANTS TO CAUSE MORE SEVERE
ILLNESS AND SO WE ARE CLOSELY
TRACKING THEM HERE IN COLORADO
TO MAKE SURE WE CAN DETECT IF
THEY ARE OCCURRING IN THE STATE
WHERE THEY ARE OCCURRING AND
HOW MANY WE ARE SEEING A MEDIA
CALL IN LINE THAT YOU ARE
LOOKING FOR ABOUT YOUR TESTING
ABOUT TWO TO THREE HUNDRED A
WEEK RIGHT NOW A POSITIVE IS
FOR THOSE SPECIFIC STRAINS.
DO YOU HAVE A BETTER IDEA YOUR
GOAL RIGHT NOW IS ABOUT FIVE
PERCENT.
YOU'RE ABOUT TWO TO THREE
PERCENT RIGHT NOW.
DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHEN YOU
CAN HIT THAT GOAL?
WELL, YOU'LL BE AT ABOUT FIVE
PERCENT OF THE SPECIMENS THAT
YOU'RE TESTING HERE.
OUR GOAL IS TO GET TO FIVE
PERCENT REALLY BY MARCH 1ST
CDPHE BASEES RECOMMENDATION IS
THREE PERCENT.
WE THINK WE'RE PRETTY CLOSE TO
THAT RIGHT NOW WITH OUR
CAPACITY AT OUR STATE
LABORATORY AND SO WE REALLY
FEEL PRETTY CONFIDENT THAT WE
SHOULD BE ABLE TO GET TO THAT
FIVE PERCENT MARK AND REALLY
EXCEED THE EXPECTATIONS THAT
CDC HAS RIGHT NOW AND REALLY
HAVE A PRETTY GOOD SENSE
OF WHERE TRANSMISSION IS
HAPPENING IN MAROLLA IS THAT
REALLY START TO REMIND PEOPLE
OF WHAT WE WERE EXPERIENCING
BACK IN MARCH?
WE'RE REALLY TESTING A LOT LAST
YEAR AND WONDERING JUST HOW BAD
THE VIRUS WAS OUT THERE ONLY TO
BE SURPRISED WHEN WE START TO
FIND SOME CASES OUT THERE.
ARE WE SURE THAT THIS LEVEL
OF SURVEILLANCE RIGHT NOW, EVEN
IF YOU DO GET TO THAT FIVE
PERCENT IS GOING TO GIVE
US WARNING IF YOU WHEN THINGS
START TO TURN, ARE WE LOOKING
ENOUGH TO SEE IT IF IT STARTS
TO INCREASE IN LARGE NUMBERS?
WE DO FEEL CONFIDENT IN
THE ABILITY TO SEE EMERGENCE
OF THIS STRAIN AND SORT OF LOOK
WEEK OVER WEEK AT WHAT CHANGES
IN PREVALENCE WE MIGHT BE
SEEING IN THE STATE OCCURRING
AT THAT SORT OF TESTING LEVEL.
BUT IN ADDITION TO THAT, THOSE
EFFORTS WE HAVE UNDERWAY TO
RANDOMLY SAMPLE SPECIMENS THAT
ARE BEING TESTED, WE ALSO ARE
DOING INTENSIVE CASE
INVESTIGATION AND CONTACT
TRACING AND SO WHEN WE FIND
THESE VARIANT CASES WE ARE
LOOKING UPSTREAM TO SEE WHERE
THEY MAY HAVE POTENTIALLY COME
FROM AND THEN OF COURSE DOING
CONTACT TRACING TO FIND WHERE
INDIVIDUAL EXPOSURES COULD HAVE
OCCURRED TO PREVENT THAT SORT
OF NEXT GENERATION OF CASES
FROM OCCURRING PUBLIC HEALTH
TWITTER IS SORT OF BUZZING WITH
THE IDEA WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN
WITH A VIRULENT STRAIN?
SO I WANT TO ASK YOU A SPECIFIC
QUESTION.
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE ODDS
RIGHT NOW THAT A VARIANT STRAIN
EMERGES THAT ALLOWS IT TO EVADE
NOT JUST THE ANTIBODIES PEOPLE
HAVE HAD THE VIRUS BUT
THE VACCINE THAT NEARLY NOW A
HALF MILLION COLORDANS HAVE
RECEIEVD SHOULD WE BE WORRIED
ABOUT THAT?
THERE IS SOME DATA OUT OF SOUTH
AFRICA AT THIS POINT EMERGING
DATA OUT OF BRAZIL THAT DOES
SUGGEST THAT THERE COULD BE A
DECREASE IN VACCINE
EFFECTIVENESS.
THE IMPACTS ARE SMALL AT THIS
POINT.
SO THERE'S REALLY I THINK QUITE
A BIT MORE FOR US TO LEARN.
I DO WANT TO SAY THOUGH THAT
I THINK CO IN GENERAL AT
THE STATE LEVEL IS IN A PRETTY
FAVORABLE PLACE RIGHT NOW AND
THAT WE ARE SEEING CASES GO
DOWN MEANING THAT WE ARE
EFFECTIVELY CONTROLLING
TRANSMISSION IN THE STATE AND
SO THOSE EFFORTS THAT WE HAVE
IN PLACE, ALL THE THINGS THAT
WE'RE DOING RIGHT NOW, ALL
THE THINGS THAT COLORADANS ARE
REALLY DOING TO PREVENT
TRANSMISSION.
SO MASK WEARING, SOCIAL
DISTANCING, ALL OF THOSE THINGS
WILL ALSO HELP TO SLOW
INTRODUCTION OF VARIANT STRAINS
IN THE STATE.
THANKS, DR. SURLEY.
I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT TO KNOW
THAT AS SHE WAS JUST TALKING
ABOUT RIGHT THERE, WE'RE IN
NUMBERS THAT WE HAVEN'T SEEN IN
THIS STATE REALLY SINCE
MID-OCTOBER.
THAT'S REALLY GOOD NEWS
CONSIDERING WHERE WE