°µºÚ±¬ÁÏ

There have been 36 reported cases in Colorado since May.

During an ongoing mental health crisis, without easily accessible long-term care, many Coloradans with serious mental illness (SMI) end up cycling in and out of emergency departments and jails. A new bill aims to create more options by adding treatment beds at a state hospital as well as in smaller community facilities.

Last month, Larimer County re-implemented an indoor mask mandate as a way of combatting rising COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. That mandate is still in place as cases continue to climb and overwhelm hospitals in the county, many of which have been at or above capacity since the middle of August.

Today on Colorado Edition, we get an update on COVID-19 safety measures in Northern Colorado. We also learn why Denver is vying to be a host city for the 2026 Men’s FIFA World Cup.

Colorado’s 8th Judicial District recently expanded diversion opportunities for adults in order to emphasize personal growth and repair harm within the community.

A new Larimer County mask mandate requiring masks in all public indoor spaces will go into effect Wednesday at noon. The mandate, announced last Friday, is an attempt to slow rapidly increasing case numbers of COVID-19 and the Delta variant.

The daily number of tests being administered in Colorado has jumped more than 30% since mid-August, according to state data. The rush has made it difficult for some residents to find appointments near them.

A new draft of Colorado’s congressional district map was released late Friday. Unlike the previous preliminary map, this one uses official population data from the 2020 census count instead of estimates. That, along with public comments from 36 meetings in July and August, has led to some major changes in the map’s proposed districts, particularly the new eighth district Colorado gained due to a population increase counted in the 2020 census.

In Larimer County, hospitals are hitting max capacity as COVID-19 and the Delta variant surge through the community. As a result, Public Health Director Tom Gonzales is encouraging residents to get vaccinated. He joins Colorado Edition to talk about what the pandemic is looking like there, and how his approach to combating the virus has evolved.

Larimer County public health officials are urging unvaccinated residents to get immunized as the region sees COVID-19 case rates and hospitalizations tick up due to transmission of the contagious delta variant. The county’s daily case rate has tripled since early June to about 80 per 100,000 residents. Hospitalizations have doubled in that same time span.