At least 109 employees at a ski resort in Colorado tested positive for Covid-19

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment announced the outbreak at Winter Park Resort in January, but released the data Wednesday in its weekly outbreak summary.

There are at least 109 employees with active infections.

“It has been determined that these cases cannot be traced back to transmission through interaction with visitors, but rather from social gatherings outside the workplace and community housing,” Grand County, Colorado officials said in a joint statement with Winter Park on Monday. . Resort.

With the ski season in Colorado underway, other resorts have also reported Covid-19 cases. According to CDPHE data, the outbreak at Winter Park is currently the largest.

“We have been working closely with public health authorities since the pandemic began,” said Jen Miller, communications manager at the ski resort. “We did extensive planning and had to get state approval for our operations before we could open on December 3.”

Miller took most of the business back to social gatherings outside of work and housing.

Precautions, according to Miller, include: re-establishing hoistcorrals and charging procedures, extra staff, new signs reminding visitors of mask requirements, restrictions on dining, a booking system to manage visits and the number of people at the resort, contactless accommodation and a state-approved test site for their 1,700 active employees.

But some visitors have reported that mask mandates are not being applied.

Asked about the reports, Miller said: “We have done extensive work and continue to develop our operations as needed. I can not speak to the experience of one individual, but we appreciate feedback and will continue to improve health. and the well-being of our employees, guests and the community as our top priority. ‘

Colorado Government Press Secretary Conor Cahill, Jared Polis, said ski resorts across the state need to plan better work for the training weekends and their management. ‘

Although vaccinations are still being instituted, many U.S. employees have risked Covid-19 by going to work.

In October, Amazon reported that nearly 20,000 employees had become infected with the virus. And one study found that 20% of grocery store workers in a Boston store had the virus.
Some companies, such as Aldi, Dollar General, Trader Joe’s and Instacart, have started paying employees to be vaccinated in an effort to curb outbreaks.

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