Omicron Still Capable of Causing Big Colorado COVID Outbreaks

The latest COVID-19 update from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment shows the virus stubbornly refusing to disappear. Case counts remain modest compared to the heights hit in January, during the peak of the Omicron wave, but the number of cases reported by the state on April 13 was the highest in a month. And while fewer COVID-19 outbreaks are being reported these days, those that qualify can still be big.

For example, an outbreak at the King Soopers at 2602 South Timberline Road in Fort Collins has been associated with 42 staff cases.

Here are the current COVID numbers in major categories, as updated by the CDPHE after 4 p.m. April 13, along with information from our previous COVID data roundup, which drew from April 6 statistics:

1,361,600 cases (up 9,354 from April 6)
28,082 variants of concern (unchanged from April 6)
64 counties (unchanged from April 6)
61,675 hospitalized (up 117 from April 6)
12,031 deaths among cases (up 49 from April 6)
13,090 deaths due to COVID-19 (up 63 from April 6)
8,564 outbreaks (up 45 from April 6)

Four takeaways:

• Cases have increased incrementally. The 9,354 new infections counted over the seven days ending April 13 compares to an average of just over 7,500 for the previous week. Moreover, the 507 new cases counted on April 13 represent the most on a single day since 600 on March 10.

• The case bump hasn’t led to a similar rise in new hospitalizations. The average for admissions was just under 170 for each of the two weeks prior to April 6, but came in at 117 on April 13.

• Deaths among COVID-19 cases went the other direction. They averaged twenty in each of the two weeks before April 6 but landed at 49 on April 13.

• Fresh outbreaks also went up, from an average of just thirteen for each of the two weeks leading up to April 6 to 45 for the week ending April 13.

This last stat is somewhat misleading, however. The CDPHE’s separate update about COVID-19 outbreaks, also released on April 13, listed 63 new or tweaked entries over the past two weeks, nearly double the 33 registered over the two-week span ending March 30. However, only 25 of them are from March and April, while the rest date from the start of 2022.

Older entries have been rolling out for the past month, with many of them pertaining to K-12 schools in Boulder; the April 13 report includes two more Boulder County outbreaks from early 2022. But the lion’s share of the 41 outbreaks at K-12 schools involve Denver County: 31 identified in January but just added.

Newer outbreaks include twelve health-care centers, ten of them specializing in senior care, as well as  spread among members of the women’s golf team at Colorado State University and two involving the University of Denver: a Daniels College of Business international trip that resulted in one staff case and twelve attendee cases, as well as thirteen staff cases and three attendee cases linked to DU’s Lamont School of Music.

Here are the 63 new or tweaked active outbreaks identified by the CDPHE during the two weeks ending April 13, along with the date when the outbreak was cited and the people impacted:

1. Angevine Middle School, School, K-12, Boulder County, 1/21/2022, 4 staff cases, 16 attendee cases
2. Asbury Elementary School, School, K-12, Denver County, 3/30/2022, 3 staff cases, 26 attendee cases
3. Beach Court Elementary, School, K-12, Denver County, 3/30/2022, 6 staff cases, 12 attendee cases
4. Belmont Lodge Healthcare Center (020619): April 2022, Healthcare, Skilled Nursing, Pueblo County, 3/28/2022, 2 staff cases
5. Bromwell Elementary School, School, K-12, Denver County, 3/30/2022, 8 staff cases, 30 attendee cases
6. Brown International Academy: January 2022, School, K-12, Denver County, 1/8/2022, 3 staff cases, 32 attendee cases
7. Bruce Randolph High School, School, K-12, Denver County, 1/10/2022, 6 staff cases, 29 attendee cases
8. Carson Elementary, School, K-12, Denver County, 1/13/2022, 10 staff cases, 15 attendee cases
9. Cedars Health Care Center (020449): April 2022, Healthcare, Skilled Nursing, Jefferson County, 4/4/2022, 2 staff cases
10. Centennial Montessori: April 2022, Child Care Center, Arapahoe County, 4/11/2022, 1 staff case, 5 attendee cases
11. Centennial: A School for Expeditionary Learning: January 2022, School, K-12, Denver County, 1/7/2022, 5 staff cases, 24 attendee cases
12. Central High School, School, K-12, Pueblo County, 10/15/2021, 3 staff cases, 5 attendee cases
13. Colfax Elementary School, School, K-12, Denver County, 1/11/2022, 6 staff cases, 12 attendee cases
14. Colorado State University — Women’s Golf, College/University, Larimer County, 4/8/2022, 6 attendee cases
15. Columbian Elementary School: January 2022, School, K-12, Denver County, 1/10/2022, 4 staff cases, 16 attendee cases
16. CS Wind America Inc, Non-Food Manufacturer/Warehouse, Pueblo County, 1/14/2022, 7 staff cases
17. DCIS at Ford, School, K-12, Denver County, 1/16/2022, 2 staff cases, 17 attendee cases
18. Denison Montessori School, School, K-12, Denver County, 1/12/2022, 3 staff cases, 9 attendee cases
19. Denver Language School — Whiteman Campus: January 2022, School, K-12, Denver County, 1/12/2022, 6 staff cases, 26 attendee cases
20. Denver School of the Arts (DSA), School, K-12, Denver County, 1/6/2022, 9 staff cases, 59 attendee cases
21. Doull Elementary School, School, K-12, Denver County, 4/8/2022, 1 staff case, 16 attendee cases
22. Downtown Denver Expeditionary School, School, K-12, Denver County, 1/4/2022, 3 staff cases, 23 attendee cases
23. Edison Elementary School: January 2022, School, K-12, Denver County, 1/3/2022, 5 staff cases, 34 attendee cases
24. Good Samaritan Society — Fort Collins Village (020314): April 2022, Healthcare, Skilled Nursing, Larimer County, 4/6/2022, 12 resident cases, 7 staff cases
25. Greeley Village LLC (23Q715): March 2022, Healthcare, Assisted Living, Weld County, 3/28/2022, 7 resident cases, 2 staff cases
26. Hildebrand Care Center (020666): April 2022, Healthcare, Skilled Nursing, Fremont County, 4/4/2022, 2 staff cases
27. Hope Montessori Academy — Centennial, School, K-12, El Paso County, 11/19/2021, 5 staff cases, 13 attendee cases
28. Horizons K-8 School, School, K-12, Boulder County, 1/24/2022, 8 staff cases, 28 attendee cases
29. Isabella Bird Community School, School, K-12, Denver County, 1/4/2022, 7 staff cases, 21 attendee cases
30. Jefferson County Detention Center: October 2021, Jail, Jefferson County, 10/18/2021, 409 resident cases, 71 staff cases
31. John H. Amesse Elementary School: January 2022, School, K-12, Denver County, 1/11/2022, 6 staff cases, 11 attendee cases
32. Johnson Elementary School — Montrose, School, K-12, Montrose County, 12/3/2021, 7 staff cases, 47 attendee cases
33. Kepner Beacon Middle School, School, K-12, Denver County, 1/5/2022, 1 staff case, 18 attendee cases
34. Kinder Kirk Preschool and Childcare Center, Child Care Center, Pueblo County, 3/3/2022, 6 staff cases, 1 attendee cases
35. King Soopers #97, Grocery Store, 4/7/2022, 42 staff cases
36. Knapp Elementary School: January 2022, School, K-12, Denver County, 1/10/2022, 6 staff cases, 21 attendee cases
37. Larimer County Alternative Sentencing Department: March 2022, Correctional, Larimer County, 4/5/2022, 10 resident cases
38. Life Care Center of Longmont (020316): April 2022, Healthcare, Skilled Nursing, Boulder County, 3/29/2022, 1 resident case, 6 staff cases
39. Life Care Center of Westminster (0204W2): April 2022, Healthcare, Skilled Nursing, Adams County, 4/6/2022, 1 resident case, 1 staff case
40. Lincoln Elementary School: January 2022, School, K-12, Denver County, 1/5/2022, 4 staff cases, 22 attendee cases
41. Lowry Elementary School, School, K-12, Denver County, 1/3/2022, 3 staff cases, 18 attendee cases
42. Marrama Elementary School, School, K-12, Denver County, 1/4/2022, 6 staff cases, 21 attendee cases
43. Monarch Montessori, School, K-12, Denver County, 1/3/2022, 10 staff cases, 13 attendee cases
44. Omar D. Blair Charter School, School, K-12, Denver County, 1/2/2022, 5 staff cases, 22 attendee cases
45. Polaris Elementary School, School, K-12, Denver County, 1/2/2022, 12 staff cases, 37 attendee cases
46. Pueblo Regional Center — House C: March 2022, Healthcare, Facility for Developmentally Disabled (Inpatient), Pueblo County, 3/30/2022, 2 staff cases
47. Pueblo Regional Center — House G, Healthcare, Facility for Developmentally Disabled (Inpatient), Pueblo County, 3/30/2022, 2 staff cases
48. Ridgeview Classical Charter School: September 2021, School, K-12, Larimer County, 9/28/2021, 7 staff cases, 62 attendee cases
49. Slavens K-8 School: January 2022, School, K-12, Denver County, 1/6/2022, 10 staff cases, 58 attendee cases
50. South Valley Post Acute Rehabilitation (020416): April 2022, Healthcare, Skilled Nursing, Denver County, 3/23/2022, 2 staff cases
51. Southmoor Elementary School, School, K-12, Denver County, 1/3/2022, 8 staff cases, 46 attendee cases
52. Stephen Knight Center for Early Education (CEE), School, K-12, Denver County, 1/5/2022, 13 staff cases, 26 attendee cases
53. STRIVE Prep — Green Valley Ranch, School, K-12, Denver County, 1/4/2022, 7 staff cases, 38 attendee cases
54. STRIVE Prep — Ruby Hill, School, K-12, Denver County, 1/4/2022, 6 staff cases, 25 attendee cases
55. Sunrise Assisted Living of Boulder (23H563): March 2022, Healthcare, Assisted Living, Boulder County, 3/21/2022, 2 staff cases
56. Teller Elementary School: January 2022, School, K-12, Denver County, 1/5/2022, 5 staff cases, 48 attendee cases
57. The Center for Talent Development at Greenlee: January 2022, School, K-12, Denver County, 1/11/2022, 5 staff cases, 9 attendee cases
58. The Learning Experience — Lafayette: April 2022, Child Care Center, Boulder County, 4/6/2022, 1 staff case, 9 attendee cases
59. The Suites at Holly Creek Assisted Living (23Y389): March 2022, Healthcare, Assisted Living, Arapahoe County, 4/6/3033, 4 resident cases
60. University of Denver — Daniels College of Business International Trip, College/University, Denver County, 3/31/2022, 1 staff case, 12 attendee cases
61. University of Denver — Lamont School of Music, College/University, Denver County, 4/6/2022, 13 staff cases, 3 attendee cases
62. University Park Elementary School, School, K-12, Denver County, 1/4/2022, 2 staff cases, 25 attendee cases
63. Valdez Elementary School: January 2022, School, K-12, Denver County, 1/4/2022, 11 staff cases, 37 attendee cases