Another Outdoor Concert Declared a COVID Outbreak

The music festival included more than dozen acts.

August 19, 2021

Tierro Band with Bridget Law, seen here in a 2019 performance, headlined the iAM SILVERTON Music Fest. YouTube

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Recent reports about COVID-19 outbreaks from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment have undermined the theory that outdoor events are immune from transmission of the disease — and its latest survey reinforces this point.

According to the CDPHE, an outbreak occurred at the iAM SILVERTON Music Fest, a July 30-31 event headlined by Tierro Band with Bridget Law and featuring more than a dozen other acts. One staff case and eight attendee cases have been confirmed.

The CDPHE designation follows several outbreaks at other outdoor gatherings that remain under active investigation, including Country Jam (currently five staff cases, 36 attendee cases), the Major League Baseball All-Star game festivities (32 attendee cases), and the String Cheese Incident's July concerts at Red Rocks (sixteen attendees). Investigations into two other outdoor events, the Meeker Range Call and the Greeley Stampede, are now considered resolved.

Until June, the state health department identified outbreaks based on two or more COVID-19 cases among residents, staffers and other people connected to a specific location confirmed within a fourteen-day period. Now, that standard is only applied to residential health-care and correctional facilities; outbreaks at other sites require at least five confirmed or probable cases of COVID-19 in a fourteen-day period.

Even with this higher standard, the outbreaks count is climbing. The August 11 update included 33 listings that were newly reported or had been tweaked by the department. That number climbed to forty on August 18, led by outbreaks at 24 health-care facilities — 23 of them specializing in senior care. Lakewood Estates in Jefferson County has suffered seven resident cases, two resident deaths and four staff cases, while Jeffco's Mountain Vista Health Center is up to thirteen resident and two staff cases.

Other new outbreaks of note took place at three child-care centers and a trade school (a worrisome development given the recent return of children to classrooms statewide), three restaurants (in Larimer, Summit and El Paso counties, respectively), a pair of religious facilities (Calvary Littleton and Grace Church in Chaffee County), a City Market grocery store in Montrose and a Green Dragon marijuana dispensary in Arapahoe County.

Here are the forty new or tweaked active outbreaks identified by the CDPHE in its August 18 report, including the date when the outbreak became official and the type of people impacted:

1. 5280 Early Childhood Education, Child Care Center, Jefferson County, 8/17/2021, 1 staff case, 5 attendee cases
2. Bad Daddy's Burger Bar, Restaurant, Sit Down, Larimer County, 8/16/2021, 8 staff cases
3. Briar Rose Chophouse and Saloon: August 2021, Restaurant, Sit Down, Summit County, 8/11/2021, 5 staff cases
4. Broomfield Skilled Nursing & Rehab Center (02R989): August 2021, Healthcare, Skilled Nursing, Broomfield County, 8/12/2021, 2 staff cases
5. Bruce McCandless Veterans Community Living Center (020636): August 2021, Healthcare, Skilled Nursing, Fremont County, 8/11/2021, 3 staff cases
6. Calvary Littleton, Religious Facility, Arapahoe County, 8/11/2021, 3 staff cases, 5 attendee cases
7. Centre Avenue Health and Rehab (02R209): August 2021, Healthcare, Skilled Nursing, Larimer County, 8/9/2021, 2 staff cases
8. City Market #440, Grocery Store, Montrose County, 8/17/2021, 13 staff cases
9. Colorado State Veterans Nursing Home — Rifle (020855): August 2021, Healthcare, Skilled Nursing, Garfield County, 8/16/2021, 3 resident cases
10. Continuing Care at Wind Crest (23A843): August 2021, Healthcare, Combined Care, Douglas County, 8/13/2021, 3 resident cases, 2 staff cases
11. Everest Mechanical, Non-Food Manufacturer/Warehouse, Boulder County, 8/16/2021, 5 staff cases
12. Garden Terrace of Aurora (020469): August 2021, Healthcare, Skilled Nursing, Arapahoe County, 8/17/2021, 1 resident case, 3 staff cases
13. Good Samaritan Society — Bonell Community (020356): August 2021, Healthcare, Skilled Nursing, Weld County, 8/13/2021, 1 resident case, 1 staff case
14. Grace Church: July 2021, Religious Facility, Chaffee County, 7/20/2021, 1 staff case, 5 attendee cases
15. Greeley Place Independent Living, Healthcare, Independent Living Facility, Weld County, 8/17/2021, 9 resident cases, 1 staff case
16. Green Dragon — Arapahoe, Retailer, Arapahoe County, 8/13/2021, 6 staff cases
17. iAM SILVERTON Music Fest, Fair/Festival/Temporary Mobile Event, San Juan County, 8/16/2021, 1 staff case, 8 attendee cases
18. KinderCare Learning Centers — Cheyenne Meadows, Child Care Center, El Paso County, 7/28/2021, 1 staff case, 6 attendee cases
19. Lakewood Estates, Healthcare, Independent Living Facility, Jefferson County, 8/13/2021, 7 resident cases, 4 staff cases, 2 resident deaths
20. Las Animas County Jail, Jail, Las Animas County, 8/11/2021, 17 resident cases, 2 staff cases
21. Lemay Avenue Health & Rehabilitation (020326): August 2021, Healthcare, Skilled Nursing, Larimer County, 8/11/2021, 4 staff cases
22. Life Care Center of Longmont (020316): August 2021, Healthcare, Skilled Nursing, Boulder County, 8/16/2021, 1 resident case, 1 staff case
23. Manorcare Health Services — Denver (020476): August 2021, Healthcare, Skilled Nursing, Denver County, 8/13/2021, 4 resident cases
24. Mercy Regional Medical Center, Healthcare, Acute Care Hospital, La Plata County, 8/17/2021, 12 staff cases
25. Mount St. Francis Nursing Center (020506): August 2021, Healthcare, Skilled Nursing, El Paso County, 8/13/2021, 1 resident case, 1 staff case
26. Mountain Vista Health Center (020429): August 2021, Healthcare, Skilled Nursing, Jefferson County, 8/13/2021, 13 resident cases, 2 staff cases
27. New Dawn Memory Care — Colorado Springs (23Q274): August 2021, Healthcare, Assisted Living, El Paso County, 8/17/2021, 1 resident case, 3 staff cases
28. Pine Ridge Extended Care Center (0212V8): August 2021, Healthcare, Skilled Nursing, Archuleta County, 8/17/2021, 2 staff cases
29. River Valley Inn (02Z787): August 2021, Healthcare, Skilled Nursing, Rio Grande County, 8/13/2021, 3 staff cases
30. Rowan Community, Inc (020459): August 2021, Healthcare, Skilled Nursing, Denver County, 8/17/2021, 2 staff cases
31. Rush Truck Center Pueblo, Commercial Truck Dealer, Pueblo County, 8/17/2021, 6 staff cases
32. Sonic Drive In — Falcon, Restaurant, Fast Food, El Paso County, 8/3/2021, 5 staff cases
33. St Paul Health Center (020448): August 2021, Healthcare, Skilled Nursing, Denver County, 8/2/2021, 10 resident cases, 2 staff cases
34. Sunrise at Pinehurst (23049U): August 2021, Healthcare, Assisted Living, Denver County, 8/16/2021, 1 resident case, 1 staff case
35. Sunshine Gardens West Assisted Living (2312W2), Healthcare, Assisted Living, La Plata County, 8/12/2021, 2 resident cases, 1 staff case
36. The Goddard School of Reunion: August 2021, Child Care Center, Adams County, 8/11/2021, 4 staff cases, 2 attendee cases
37. TIGI Hairdressing Academy, Trade School, El Paso County, 8/12/2021, 1 staff case, 5 attendee cases
38. Valley Manor Care Center (021172): August 2021, Healthcare, Skilled Nursing, Montrose County, 8/3/2021, 10 staff cases
39. Village at Belmar (23Z408): August 2021, Healthcare, Assisted Living, Jefferson County, 8/12/2021, 4 staff cases
40. West Star Aviation: June 2021, Aircraft Repair, Mesa County, 5/31/2021, 11 staff cases

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Michael Roberts began his career with Westword in 1990 as music editor. In 1999, he took on a new role, full-time media reporter, as author of a column called The Message. In 2008, he became the lead writer for Westword's news blog, The Latest Word, a position he held until January 2023. Michael continues to freelance for Westword, covering everything from business to sports and the media; he also contributes to Jazziz, a national music magazine. He holds a bachelor's degree from what is now Colorado Mesa University and master's degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles, and Northwestern University.

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