It turns out President Trump wasn’t the only one caught off guard by the virus, so was Gov. Polis.
The coverup by China notwithstanding, when local officials in Colorado did become aware of the virus, they couldn’t get through to the state for help.
That’s according to a new report from the left of liberal Colorado Public Radio (CPR) that actually criticizes the failed response of the Polis administration.
CPR combed through 2,000 pages of emails, texts, and memos and says the state’s response to COVID-19 was confusing, complacent, and ill-prepared.
Beyond the love fest for Polis appearing in public (sometimes) wearing a face mask, here’s the proof Polis mangled the state’s response.
Colorado, however, has emerged as the only state in the nation ranked in the bottom 15 for both population density — which should make it easier to control the spread of the virus — and in the top 15 for COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 residents.
Louisiana is the only state west of the Mississippi with a higher rate of COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 residents than Colorado, and Colorado has more than 400 more deaths than even Arizona, a state with a larger and older population.
Other key findings, despite growing signs the virus was spreading nationwide, Polis had little to say publicly. Preparations meant holding meetings and notifying the state lab instead of securing PPE for first responders and medical workers.
At Polis’s first coronavirus news conference on March 3, the governor said the state was prepared to protect the health and safety of Coloradans.
But in the critical weeks before the governor made that confident statement, no state purchases were made for protective equipment for health care workers. Accurate and consistent testing remained limited. No warnings were given to the public about the broad sweep of the impacts to come.
It’s worth reading the whole report here, which makes it clear Polis and his people were dropping balls before the juggling even began.