Pueblo announces end of curfew, start of neighborhood alerts for COVID-19 in wastewater

PUEBLO, Colorado (KRDO) – Two developments related to the pandemic on Wednesday included the end of a restriction and the announcement of what Mayor Nick Gradisar called “a neighborhood early COVID alert system.”

During an afternoon news conference, Gradisar said he was interrupting the night curfew he ordered two months ago, in an effort to reduce the spread of the virus in bars and other places.

The change comes at a time of falling positive cases in the past two weeks.

“I hope this trend continues,” said Gradisar. “If we see any different activity, I certainly reserve the right to impose the curfew again. But my intention at this point is not to impose the curfew again.”

The mayor was asked if he thought the curfew worked in general, although some of the city’s largest COVID numbers occurred during him.

“I think it worked,” he said. “It’s hard to say how much it helped to lower our numbers. But it limited people’s movement. If we didn’t have a curfew, our numbers could have been even worse.”

Gradisar also revealed that, as early as next month, the city will initiate a 911 reverse alert for neighborhoods with high levels of the virus in wastewater.

“We have been testing wastewater in our seven basins since August,” he said. “We sent the results to Colorado State University. The tests revealed that there was a strong correlation with high levels of viruses in wastewater and a large number of positive cases of COVID.”

The mayor said that when virus levels increase in wastewater, the affected neighborhoods will receive a 911 reverse alert from the police department’s emergency operations center.

“Residents will be reminded to wear a mask, practice social detachment and will be invited to take a free COVID test at one of our two locations,” he said. “They will also be asked to isolate themselves until they receive the test results.”

Gradisar said the system should provide an early warning and allow residents to take the necessary measures to protect themselves.

“That gives us five days to deliver,” he said. “This could help with testing earlier and reduce the risk of spreading through the community.”

The mayor said about 20 communities are conducting wastewater testing, but Pueblo is the only one taking the additional step of including an alert system.

“As for the variant of COVID-19 that appeared in Colorado, I don’t think it will be detected in wastewater,” he said. “I think it will appear only as COVID-19. If spikes in the sewer lead to further testing, I think we have the capacity to handle it.”