The number of nursing home outbreaks has fallen consistently six weeks into 2021, though more than three dozen such clusters have been identified in this year alone.

There are 22 active assisted living outbreaks that have been identified in 2021, per state data published each Wednesday. There are also 15 new nursing home outbreaks. In all, just over 200 residents at the two types of facilities have been infected, plus another 158 staff members. Many of the outbreaks are small, though one nursing home — Larimer County’s Spring Creek Healthcare Center — has more than 50 cases and was identified shortly after the New Year.

The new cases accounted for roughly a quarter of the current assisted-living outbreaks and a sixth of nursing home clusters. 

Still, there is still good news for long-term care facilities here. There are 89 assisted-living outbreaks currently, plus 91 in nursing homes. Both of those numbers are higher than at many previous points in the pandemic, and they’ve sickened hundreds of residents and staff members. But both are markedly lower than the number of outbreaks in recent weeks. 

Indeed, the first batch of outbreak data published by the state in early January identified 147 assisted-living outbreaks. There were another 141 clusters in nursing homes. 

That number has steadily declined over the past month. Last week, both were still over 100 outbreaks but were down significantly from the first week of January.

Gov. Jared Polis has said that the mass vaccination efforts in long-term care facilities, which have largely made substantial progress, will end the “crisis phase” of the pandemic, as residents in those centers are among the most likely to get severely ill and sick. The completion of vaccine clinics there marks a turning point, he and others have said.