The coronavirus continues to spread at high levels in Colorado, despite a relative lull before Thanksgiving, and federal health officials said that situation here is “critical.” 

It’s not the first time the White House’s coronavirus task force has used that word to describe Colorado’s status, and with good reason. The state confirmed more than 5,300 cases Thursday, plus several hundred added to the state’s total from previous days. The positivity rate, both daily and the average from the past week, is over 12%.

The brief flash of good news from Thursday is that hospitalizations went down slightly; the state had been rapidly approaching a new milestone — 2,000 hospitalized confirmed or suspected COVID patients.

“We share the strong concern of Colorado leaders that the current situation is critical and that the population and health care system must do everything possible to prepare for and limit a post-Thanksgiving resurgence,” the task force wrote in its weekly report to the state. “Improved public observance of social distancing measures is urgently needed to limit overrunning hospital capacity and additional preventable deaths.” 

The grim solace Colorado can take is that the entire nation is facing similar threats. On Thursday, Johns Hopkins University announced that 3,157 Americans died on Wednesday alone, while more than 200,000 were infected. That’s more than the number of people killed on 9/11 and shattered the old mark of 2,603, set on April 15. 

The number of Americans in the hospital with the coronavirus likewise hit an all-time high Wednesday at more than 100,000, according to the COVID Tracking Project.

“The COVID risk to all Americans is at a historic high,” officials wrote. “The national daily COVID incidence after Memorial Day, but before the summer surge, was fewer than 25,000 new cases/day and is now more than 180,000 new cases/day; COVID inpatients then were fewer than 30,000 but are now more than 90,000; fatalities have more than doubled. We are in a very dangerous place due to the current, extremely high COVID baseline and limited hospital capacity; a further post-Thanksgiving surge will compromise COVID patient care, as well as medical care overall.”

Officials in Colorado have said it’s too early to tell what sort of impact Thanksgiving had on the state’s coronavirus situation. It is widely feared that travel and gatherings inherent to the holiday will only exacerbate the state’s downward spiral, which continues to threaten its health care system. 

In its report, federal health officials wrote that officials in Colorado must make clear that “if you are over 65 or have significant health conditions, you should not enter any indoor public spaces where anyone is unmasked due to the immediate risk to your health.” It recommended those groups have their groceries delivered.

The report also said that anyone under 40 who traveled or gathered for Thanksgiving should act as if they’re sick and isolate themselves, not only from the broader world but from anyone in your household who is at high risk for severe infection. 

The task force recommended that travel be limited within Colorado “throughout the next several weeks” as an “additional key mitigation measure this holiday season.” It commended Gov. Jared Polis’s “continued personal guidance on these measures,” as it has before. 

The state should also expeditiously intensify its efforts to slow the spread by using the measures “called for within the state plan.” The report does not specify which measures, but it does commend the state on recently changing measures within various counties.

“Additional measures should be taken, including communications to reinforce messaging around social gatherings throughout the ongoing holiday season,” officials wrote. “Maximizing control of transmission now will also allow for greater and earlier resumption of business activity in addition to limiting cases, hospitalizations, and deaths.”