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The Budweiser Event Center in LovelandColorado health officials on Tuesday said they are identifying facilities around the state that could be utilized in the event hospitals are overwhelmed by a surge in novel coronavirus patients.
The Budweiser Events Center in Loveland, a 7,200-seat arena, is one space being considered, Mike Willis, director of the state’s Office of Emergency Management, said in a conference call with reporters. He did not identify any other facilities under consideration.
“There’s been a significant effort to identify separate facilities to build alternate care facilities to prepare for the surge,” Willis said.
Willis also said the state is not considering closing Colorado’s borders. Several states, including Texas, are now mandating quarantines for out-of-state visitors from certain places, and the question of strict border closures has been subject to legal debate.
In a sign of COVID-19’s spread, health officials confirmed Tuesday that the state’s top public health official, Jill Hunsaker Ryan, has been in isolation after the Colorado Springs Gazette reported that her husband tested positive for the virus earlier this month.
“Jill is working remotely at this time like many people in the state are,” Scott Bookman, the state’s COVID-19 incident commander, said on the conference call. “She is healthy and fully engaged. She will determine when to start working in person again while maintaining social distancing as appropriate.”
