New COVID-19 cases in JeffCo linked to group fishing trip

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Two more confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been found in Jefferson County, Public Health Officer Dr. Tom Locke said Monday.

The new cases of coronavirus bring the total number in Jefferson County to 52.

"Once again, this is a week I do not have good news," Locke told Jefferson County commissioners Monday morning at the board's weekly COVID-19 update.

"I look forward to the day I can say we turned the corner. Today is not that day," Locke said.

The two new coronavirus cases in the county were discovered over the weekend, and were traced to a fishing trip that a local resident had with out-of-state buddies.

"What could be more Washingtonian than that?" Locke asked.

One of the visitors from out of state was incubating the infection, Locke said, and was discovered to have COVID-19 when he returned home.

"It was a very close contact. Literally, a fishing boat," Locke said.

"You cannot socially distance on a fishing boat."

In late July, the spread of COVID-19 in Jefferson County stood at 50 infections, and had gone two weeks without a new case of the disease being confirmed. That changed Wednesday, July 29, when the 51st case was reported.

On Monday, Locke said the COVID-19 outbreak has killed more than 150,000 people in the United States, and noted the death toll is higher than any other pandemic since 1918.

More than 4.6 million Americans have been diagnosed with COVID-19, he added, "and we know that's just the tip of the iceberg."

Locke said the actual number of COVID-19 infections is probably 10 times higher.

The coronavirus is now spreading into areas of the country that had been relatively untouched earlier, he said.

Internationally, a new pattern is emerging. Coronavirus is returning to countries that had previously done a pretty good job of controlling the disease, Locke said, including Australia, Germany, South Korea, and Thailand.

Those countries are seeing a resurgence of cases.

The common cause: As people resume once normal activities, they let down their guards, and outbreaks follow.