Colorado surpassed 7,000 COVID-19 deaths Tuesday, according to federal data published by the state.

Seven thousand and nine Coloradans have died because of COVID-19, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention figures that are updated each afternoon by the state. In a statement, Gov. Jared Polis’s spokesman called the deaths “heartbreaking.”

“We now have a simple tool to stop the loss, a safe and highly effective vaccine,” Cahill said. “Every loss of life due to this deadly virus is heartbreaking. Coloradans have lost loved ones, friends, and neighbors, and now that we have a weapon against COVID much of the loss is unnecessary.”

That sentiment was echoed by Jessica Bralish, spokeswoman for the state Department of Public Health and Environment.

“We are truly saddened by every person lost to this horrific virus. We give our sincerest condolences to their loved ones and mourn alongside them,” she said in an email. “Throughout the pandemic, as public health practitioners, our goal has always been to minimize devastating health impacts and deaths.” 

The rate of mortality has fallen significantly since a fall surge and since vaccines were administered to Colorado’s most vulnerable residents. The death toll is also well below worst-case scenarios modeled by state health experts.

The state Department of Public Health and Environment compiles weekly death tolls. The most up-to-date such figure is for the week ending June 26, during which the state recorded 26 COVID-19 deaths. That’s the second-lowest toll since mid-October. 

Still, there have been flare ups. In late April and early May, Colorado slipped into a fourth pandemic wave that would lead to 93 people dying during the second week of May. That was the most since Feb. 13, when the state’s COVID-19 metrics were falling consistently after the fall surge. Roughly 600 Coloradans have died since the vaccine became eligible for distribution in early April. 

In the fall, the state surpassed 400 weekly deaths for three successive weeks, and it topped 200 deaths for nine consecutive weeks.

The demographics of the deaths is now closer to the state’s actual racial makeup, according to state and federal data. White Coloradans, for instance, make up about 68% of the state’s population, per the U.S. Census Bureau, and they account for 66% of the state’s deaths. Latino residents compose 23% of the population and make up 25% of the state’s COVID-19 deaths.

As has been the case since the beginning, Colorado’s oldest residents make up the majority of deaths over the past 15 months. Of the just over 7,000 deaths, more than 80% are in residents 65 and older, according to state data.

The death toll that can be directly attributed to COVID-19 does not account for the true mortality brought about by the pandemic, experts have said. There were far more overdose deaths in 2020 than in previous years, for instance, a trend that experts attribute to the rise of fentanyl and the increased isolation of the pandemic. Alzheimer’s patients also died at a faster rate than they had before, which experts have also attributed to the conditions of the pandemic. 

Despite Tuesday’s grim milestone, Colorado’s overall COVID-19 situation has improved markedly over the past few months, even accounting for the fourth wave of last month. For the seven days ending Monday, the state averaged 315 new cases each day, the lowest mark since September.

Hospitalizations have fallen from 713 confirmed and suspected COVID-19 patients on May 8 to 306 as of Tuesday. There was a 14% increase in admissions last week, the first time admissions had grown since the first week of May. But discharges have kept pace, keeping hospitalizations are a low plateau: Discharges rose 22% last week.