Coronavirus Littleton Update: Over 400 Tested, Only 9 New Cases

LITTLETON, CO — More than 400 Littleton area residents have been tested for the coronavirus over the past week, but fewer than 10 of those tests came back positive, according to public health data. Since the outbreak began, there have been more than 200 COVID-19 cases confirmed among people with Littleton addresses.

Jeffco Public Health and Tri-County Health Department have updated their COVID-19 data to offer more accurate case counts in Littleton. Tri-County now offers a breakdown by Littleton neighborhoods, and Jeffco has been able to assess which cases are linked to addresses within Littleton's municipal boundaries.

Since the coronavirus outbreak began, there have been nine confirmed cases of COVID-19 on the Jefferson County side of Littleton, according to data updated Tuesday.

The following Tri-County case counts have been linked to Littleton addresses, but may not all be in the city's boundaries:

There have been more than 10,000 cases of the new coronavirus in Arapahoe, Douglas and Jefferson counties since the outbreak began, according to data posted by state health officials.

The number of cases in other surrounding Tri-County Health Department communities can be found here. The number of cases in Jefferson County cities can be found here.

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Jefferson County Public Health issued an emergency public health order Tuesday that requires all residents and visitors to wear a mask or face covering in public when social distancing guidelines can't be followed.

The Tri-County Health Department's top officials voted July 8 to authorize a mandatory face covering order; however municipalities are able to opt out of the order. A day after the mandate was announced, Douglas County announced it's planning to leave the Tri-County Health Department and opt out of the mask order.

Roger Partridge, Douglas County commissioner and board chair, said his board "directed staff to begin the work of creating a separate public health department that will appropriately meet the needs of Douglas County."

In a statement issued Thursday, Douglas County Commissioner Lora Thomas said that cases in the county "are very low."

"We question the enforceability and efficacy of the mask mandate order, believing that trusting our citizens and business community to continue doing what they do, without a mandate, is the best approach," she said.

Over the past week, more than 4,000 new cases of the coronavirus have been reported in Colorado, according to public health data.

While Colorado hospitals have not yet faced capacity issues, the state has seen a rise in the number of coronavirus cases and hospitalizations over the past week, Gov. Jared Polis announced in a news conference Tuesday.

"I don't want to follow the path of Texas, Arizona and Southern California," Polis said. "I want Colorado to continue to be a positive outlier."

"It's not the time to panic, or to feel anxious, it's the time to redouble our efforts," he said.

As of Tuesday, 37,686 people had been infected with the coronavirus in the state among 406,967 people who have been tested since the outbreak began, health officials confirmed. Around 5,963 people have been hospitalized, and the death toll has reached 1,594.