Colorado Politics

COVID-19 cases plateau, but still circulate in Colorado

The novel coronavirus that shuttered businesses and schools, upended travel and killed millions all over the globe hasn’t gone away.

“It’s still out there,” said Dr. Michael Roshon, vice president of Quality & Clinical Operations for Centura Health. “It’s still cycling.”

Roshon added, “It’s not gone by a long shot.”

Many of the measures for controlling the spread of COVID-19 are gone, but not the virus itself. 

Some of those measures – considered draconian in conservative circles and absolutely necessary by progressives – included facemasks, vaccinations, closure of schools and business shutdowns.

Governments lifted the measures  after vaccines became widely available and cases dropped, although not eliminated.   

This also included data tracking.

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment stopped providing daily COVID-19 updates in November. The state now provides a weekly update on Wednesdays.

“Cases have decreased substantially since the spring of this year, and are now in a plateau with around 75 cases reported per day,” said Paul Galloway, a spokesperson for the state health department. “Hospitalization rates have remained stable with 66 people currently hospitalized.”

To put those numbers into perspective, Colorado was seeing more than 10,000 COVID-19 cases a day in January last year, when infections peaked in the state. More than 15,000 Coloradans died from the virus, whose earlier variants were far deadlier than its latest iterations. 

Roughly 72% of Coloradans are fully immunized against COVID-19, state data shows. But the percentage of fully immunized can vary widely by county from 33.9% in Cheyenne County to 99.9% in San Juan County.

In Denver County, 80.1% of residents are fully vaccinated.

Just four counties – Larimer, Gunnison, Douglas and Routt – have an immunization rate greater than 70%, with 11 new cases per 100,000 over the past week, considered a moderate incident rate.

Fewer than 10 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 is considered low.

Denver County last week saw 10.38 cases per 100,000 people, said Courtney Ronner, a spokesperson for Denver Department of Public Health and Environment.

Ronner credited lower infection rates with higher vaccination rates, depending on “the political climate in each county.”

Respiratory viruses – including COVID-19 – typically recede during the summer, when people are outside contributing to lower transmission rates.

Individuals who are age 65 and older or who have an underlying health condition, such as diabetes or heart disease, are at the greatest risk of getting very sick from COVID-19.

Nationally, 81% of COVID-19 deaths occurred in people older than 65, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Vaccination is considered the most effective step against preventing severe disease and hospitalizations, experts said, although vaccinations have not stopped the virus from spreading.  

“If a shot can keep you from getting sick and certainly keep you out of the hospital, it’s worth it,” said Dr. Michelle Barron, senior director of infection prevention at UCHealth.

Clinical pharmacist Jamal Jamil gives Judith Henderson her COVID-19 booster shot during UCHealth’s COVID-19 vaccination clinic on Friday, Dec. 10, 2021, on the Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora, Colo. (Timothy Hurst/The Gazette)
Timothy Hurst
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