The coronavirus pandemic upended life around the world. Billions of people have been ordered to stay home, millions of businesses have been forced to close and hundreds of thousands of people have died.
The numbers are staggering.
When it’s all said and done, the coronavirus pandemic of 2019-20 will be remembered largely by its numbers. As of Friday, there have been over 1 million confirmed cases in the U.S., more than 60,000 deaths and nearly $2 trillion in federal economic aid.
The numbers keep growing.
The data are a little less frightening regionally. As of Friday, 87 cases and two deaths were confirmed in the five-county region of Southwest Colorado. In New Mexico, San Juan County reported 621 cases and 45 deaths.
But more than numbers, the pandemic has caused unprecedented social upheaval – restricted personal movement, closed offices and store fronts, and canceled sports and entertainment events – that will leave painful footnotes in our history.
Numbers represent a glimpse of how life in Southwest Colorado and New Mexico have changed.
Here’s a look.
18%: With many businesses shut down in Durango, commercial power use fell 18% from La Plata Electric Association projections. Oddly, with more people staying at home, LPEA has not seen a significant increase in residential power use: Data show an increase of only 0.5% from LPEA projections. Dan Harms, manager of rates, technology and energy policy, attributed the surprisingly low figure to LPEA’s recent renewable energy measures.
27,875: Durango School District 9-R began making and delivering meals after in-person education stopped in March. Since then, the district has made 27,875 meals, which include breakfast and lunch, and delivered them to 29 pickup locations for six weeks, said spokeswoman Julie Popp. Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory has included chocolate-covered pretzels for many of those meals, and Albertsons, City Market and McDonald’s also have contributed to daily meals.
7: The Durango Police Department responded to seven crashes March 26 through April 25. By comparison, the department responded to 50 crashes during the same period in 2019.
60: Durango-La Plata County Airport doesn’t have real-time data for arrivals and departures, which means the number of flights arriving in April won’t be available until later in May. But anecdotally, Tony Vicari, director of airport aviation, said the number of daily commercial airline landings in April has ranged from one to three – or 30 to 90 flights – for a rough average of 60 for the month. In April last year, commercial airline landings totaled 307. He estimates April landings will be down 70%, and passenger traffic down 90%.
375,000: The Community Emergency Relief Fund has raised about $275,000 from local philanthropists and individuals and $100,000 in matching funds. The money is distributed to human service nonprofits helping vulnerable populations and school districts providing food and child care services in Southwest Colorado. Examples include Manna soup kitchen’s weekly backpack program, which provides food to families; and Reaching Out to Community and Kids in Dolores, which provides drive-thru emergency provisions including food, basic necessities and mental health activities.
598: From March 26 through April 25, the city of Cortez collected 598 tons of municipal solid waste. That is a 13.3% decrease for the same time period a year ago, said Cortez Public Works Director Philip Johnson.
44 million: The city of Cortez used 44 million gallons of water March 26 through April 25, which is a 2.3% decrease from April 2019, Johnson said.
1,157: The Durango-La Plata 911 dispatch center logged 1,157 calls between March 26 and April 25. Dispatch received 1,306 calls during the same period in 2019. While overall call volume decreased by 11%, the number of calls that are violent in nature, like trespassing and intoxication, increased by about 10% to 15%, said Susanne Meyers, interim director of the Durango-La Plata Dispatch Center.
38: The San Juan County Sheriff’s Office responded to 38 traffic crashes from March 26 to April 25. The number is surprisingly similar to previous years, even though nonessential businesses were closed and people were urged to stay home during April. By comparison, the agency responded to 42 crashes in 2019 and 31 crashes in 2018, said Jayme Harcrow, spokeswoman with the Sheriff’s Office.
10 tons: Home garbage cans got more use. Mitchell Carter, spokesman for the city of Durango, said the Trash and Recycle Division collected 748 tons of trash March 26 through April 25, 10 tons more than during the comparable period in 2019. “The major difference that our Trash and Recycle Division has seen since the onset of the pandemic is a reduction in commercial collection and an increase in residential collection,” he said.
Zero: The Durango Community Recreation Center was closed during April. That means no swimming, no weightlifting, and no basketball, kickboxing, dodgeball or wall climbs. Zero also may apply to many other services, including court trials, library books checked out from rural libraries and school sports events. (A footnote to this footnote: We think maybe a few city staff members sneaked in some recreation while maintaining the rec center.)
Durango Herald Staff Writers Shannon Mullane, Jonathan Romeo, Patrick Armijo and Liz Weber contributed to this report. Journal Staff Writer Erika Alvero also contributed.