According to the Centers for Disease Control, Summit County is among those locations where COVID-19 is spreading more quickly than others.
The latest recorded data includes a test positivity rate of nearly 35%. That is reflected in the shops around Frisco, suffering staffing woes while their team either recovers from or waits out test results on COVID.
“We had several people out sick, so I worked three weeks straight and that was 10-12 hour days,” Lisa Holenko, co-owner of Next Page Books told CBS4.
“They were long and that put me out of commission, I got sick right after Christmas and then I was out for a week-and-a-half.”
At some points, she had to close up the shop during one of their most profitable times, with tourists flooding in from all over. Still, Holenko said keeping their mask mandate and enforcing it is just doing their part to help stop the massive spread the county is seeing.
Summit County Commissioner Tamara Pogue said it was an easy decision to place that mask mandate back in for indoor areas as case rates spiked.
“We already had a workforce shortage because of our housing crisis. so it does feel a bit like all of these things are coming together at the worst time for our community and you throw omicron into the mix and we are struggling.”
For now, Holenko said she is just thankful to have some backup when it comes to enforcing the mask mandate, as her store enforced it even before the county’s decision.
Masks Will Be Required In Indoor Areas When National Western Stock Show Opens This Weekend
The National Western Stock Show opens in Denver this weekend despite surging omicron cases in Colorado. The 16-day show runs from Jan. 8 through Jan. 23.
A cowboy hangs on during the bareback riding competition (credit: JASON CONNOLLY/AFP/Getty Images)
It annually draws hundreds of thousands of people from across the country for rodeos, livestock auctions and trade shows.
Proof of vaccination is not required to get in, but there is a mask mandate for all indoor areas.
“About 60% of our show is outdoors. Most of the spaces that are indoors have open, huge barn doors that are constantly moving air through,” Paul Andrews, President and CEO of NWSS, told CBS4 last month.
Last year’s stock show had to be canceled due to COVID, and this year organizers canceled the iconic kickoff parade that had been planned for Thursday because of the snowstorm that rolled through the Denver metro area.
Smiling big because there is only one day left until #nwss2022! pic.twitter.com/fBxAbC7JAC
— National Western (@NationalWestern) January 7, 2022
