Summit County reduces coronavirus death count to 1 after changes to state guidelines
Liz Copan / ecopan@summitdaily.com
Following the state government’s lead, Summit County officials have changed the classification for deaths connected to the novel coronavirus.
On Friday, May 15, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment changed its classification of deaths related to the virus. Fatalities connected to the virus now will be counted separately from fatalities caused by the virus, according to the state public health department’s website.
Since Summit County’s first confirmed case of coronavirus March 5, public health officials have reported two deaths related to the virus. With the new classification change, the county’s coronavirus webpage now is reporting only one death.
The death that has been removed from the official count is a Silverthorne man in his 60s who tested positive for the virus after he died, according to a April 11 new release from the county. On April 17, the county coroner’s office confirmed the man’s primary cause of death was a diabetic ketoacidosis event. The man is now considered to be one of the deaths “among people with COVID-19.”
The county’s other reported fatality of a man in his 80s is still considered a coronavirus death. The man tested positive for the virus before he died, and COVID-19 is listed as his primary cause of death.
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