Colorado COVID Hospitalizations More Than Double in a Month

The number of hospitalizations related to the latest COVID-19 wave in Colorado continues to hit levels not seen since early 2021 — and the total has more than doubled in a month.

On July 30, 365 people were hospitalized for treatment of the virus in Colorado. On August 30, the number was 874 — the highest since 879, on January 17.

Here are the latest statistics in major categories from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, updated after 4 p.m. August 30. They’re juxtaposed with information from our most recent COVID-19 roundup, which tracked figures from August 23.

613,730 cases (up 10,464 from August 23)
22,312 variants of concern (up 1,510 from August 23)
2,616 variants under investigation (up 2 from August 23)
35,603 hospitalizations (up 507 from August 23)
64 counties (unchanged since August 23)
7,129 deaths among cases (up 51 from August 23)
7,422 deaths due to COVID-19 (up 75 from August 23)
5,757 outbreaks (up 56 from August 23)

Four major takeaways:

• The 10,464 new cases over the past seven days represent something of a plateau; the increase from August 16-23 was 10,894.

• Likewise, the pace of hospitalizations is down from a spike of 1,323 on August 23 to 507 on August 30.

• Outbreaks continue to climb, going from fifty new listings on August 23 to 56 on August 30 — a trend that could be associated with the start of the 2020-2021 academic year in more Colorado schools.

• COVID-19 deaths have nearly tripled in three weeks. In the week ending August 16, 28 people died from the disease. The week ending August 23 saw fifty deaths. The week ending August 30 was marked by 75 deaths — an average of more than ten a day.

Another concerning development: The state positivity rate on August 30 was 8.68 percent, well over the 5 percent mark the CDPHE prefers not to exceed. That’s an indication that not enough testing is being done to control the disease’s transmission on a community level. Likewise, the previous week’s outpatient syndromic COVID-19 visits, which had been in the 1-2 percent range over the past month or two, reached 4.14 percent on August 30.

Daily cases were consistently running on the high side as well. Of the ten days ending on August 22, seven registered case counts of 1,000 or more. But nine of ten were in that range for the same period leading up to August 29, topped by 2,094 cases reported on August 25. Here’s the rundown:

August 29 — 1,087 Cases
August 28 — 563 Cases
August 27 — 1,195 Cases
August 26 — 1,866 Cases
August 25 — 2,094 Cases
August 24 — 1,765 Cases
August 23 — 1,266 Cases
August 22 — 1,001 Cases
August 21 — 1,373 Cases
August 20 — 1,742 Cases

Hospitalization stats are mixed. The seven-day average of patients admitted to the hospital actually slipped a bit from August 23 to August 30. But the 150 people who were added to the roster yesterday are among the most on a single day this year, and admissions as a whole climbed from the low 700s to the high 800s over that stretch. Here are the details:

New Hospital Admissions by Admission Date

August 30, 2021
150 patients admitted to the hospital
97 seven-day average of patients admitted to the hospital

August 29, 2021
30 patients admitted to the hospital
88 seven-day average of patients admitted to the hospital

August 28, 2021
87 patients admitted to the hospital
86 seven-day average of patients admitted to the hospital

August 27, 2021
95 patients admitted to the hospital
84 seven-day average of patients admitted to the hospital

August 26, 2021
110 patients admitted to the hospital
90 seven-day average of patients admitted to the hospital

August 25, 2021
80 patients admitted to the hospital
94 seven-day average of patients admitted to the hospital

August 24, 2021
129 patients admitted to the hospital
97 seven-day average of patients admitted to the hospital

August 23, 2021
83 patients admitted to the hospital
97 seven-day average of patients admitted to the hospital

August 22, 2021
18 patients admitted to the hospital
107 seven-day average of patients admitted to the hospital

August 21, 2021
76 patients admitted to the hospital
117 seven-day average of patients admitted to the hospital

Patients Currently Hospitalized for COVID-19

August 30, 2021
874 Total COVID Patients (Confirmed & Suspected/PUI)
796 (91 percent) Confirmed COVID-19
78 (9 percent) Persons Under Investigation

August 29, 2021
845 Total COVID Patients (Confirmed & Suspected/PUI)
756 (89 percent) Confirmed COVID-19
89 (11 percent) Persons Under Investigation

August 28, 2021
839 Total COVID Patients (Confirmed & Suspected/PUI)
756 (90 percent) Confirmed COVID-19
83 (10 percent) Persons Under Investigation

August 27, 2021
793 Total COVID Patients (Confirmed & Suspected/PUI)
705 (89 percent) Confirmed COVID-19
88 (11 percent) Persons Under Investigation

August 26, 2021
788 Total COVID Patients (Confirmed & Suspected/PUI)
682 (87 percent) Confirmed COVID-19
106 (13 percent) Persons Under Investigation

August 25, 2021
813 Total COVID Patients (Confirmed & Suspected/PUI)
680 (84 percent) Confirmed COVID-19
133 (16 percent) Persons Under Investigation

August 24, 2021
784 Total COVID Patients (Confirmed & Suspected/PUI)
676 (86 percent) Confirmed COVID-19
108 (14 percent) Persons Under Investigation

August 23, 2021
734 Total COVID Patients (Confirmed & Suspected/PUI)
665 (91 percent) Confirmed COVID-19
69 (9 percent) Persons Under Investigation

August 22, 2021
723 Total COVID Patients (Confirmed & Suspected/PUI)
643 (89 percent) Confirmed COVID-19
80 (11 percent) Persons Under Investigation

August 21, 2021
725 Total COVID Patients (Confirmed & Suspected/PUI)
648 (89 percent) Confirmed COVID-19
77 (11 percent) Persons Under Investigation

Inoculations tracked on the CDPHE’s vaccine data dashboard show a bump in fully immunized Coloradans; the 37,908 individuals vaccinated the week ending August 30 bested the 34,044 upswing on August 23. This result appears largely attributable to the growing popularity of the Pfizer vaccine, which has been formally approved by federal authorities. On August 23, 1,631 people received the medication, now officially known as Comirnaty. On August 30, 5,697 had it injected. At the same time, though, the figures related to the Moderna and Janssen/Johnson & Johnson vaccines are waning. The latest data:

3,318,965 people fully immunized in Colorado (up 37,908 from August 23)
3,,643,348 people immunized with at least one dose (up 36,915 from August 23)
5,697 people vaccinated on August 30 with Pfizer vaccine (up 4,066 from August 23); 4,177 immunizations with Pfizer vaccine reported August 30 but administered on an earlier date (up 182 from August 23)
539 people immunized on August 30 with Moderna vaccine (up 9 from August 23); 1,233 immunizations with Moderna vaccine reported August 30 but administered on an earlier date (down 71 from August 23)
33 people vaccinated on August 30 with Janssen (J&J) vaccine (down 4 from August 23); 101 immunizations with Janssen vaccine reported August 30 but administered on an earlier date (down 162 from August 16)

Governor Jared Polis continues to stress that Colorado is not yet at risk of exceeding its hospital capacity. But no one is pleased with the number of beds currently filled with COVID-19 patients.