El Paso County has one of the nation’s highest fatality rates of the new coronavirus, surpassing communities in other states that have been hard hit by the disease.
At least 13 deaths have been attributed to the virus in El Paso County, the highest tally among Colorado counties and roughly one-fifth of the state’s 70 total deaths through Tuesday evening.
As of Saturday, El Paso County’s death rate — at 5% among the 286 people with confirmed infections — ranked sixth in the nation among counties with at least 100 confirmed cases, according to local public health officials
“Undoubtedly, we have had a large number of deaths right out of the gate here,” said Dr. Leon Kelly, El Paso County Public Health’s deputy medical director.
But coronavirus is not spreading in El Paso County faster than in other areas. The number of confirmed cases per capita in El Paso County is relatively low when compared to the rates of infection in places like Denver and Eagle, Pitkin and Gunnison counties.
El Paso County and Denver have roughly the same population, about 720,000 people. But Denver had nearly double the number of confirmed cases through Tuesday morning compared to its southern Colorado counterpart.
It’s just that the virus entered El Paso County’s population in two of the worst possible places: the Colorado Springs Bridge Center and a long-term senior care facility, where scores of older and more vulnerable people were exposed.
“The virus started out here in a population that can least afford to have it,” said Kelly, who also is El Paso County’s coroner. “Unfortunately, when that happens, as we’ve seen in other places, you get a large number of those folks who die. Our local infections occurred in the most susceptible among us in this community and that story is playing out exactly like you’d expect, unfortunately.”
Four deaths have been linked back to tournament play over six days in late February and early March at the Bridge Center, where people get together to play cards. Two more deaths have come from the Laurel Manor Care Center in southeast Colorado Springs, where there has been an outbreak of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.
The remaining five deaths, Kelly said, are considered community transmissions but are unrelated to the two clusters.