Over 1,000 Colorado COVID Hospitalizations Again a Daily Thing

On each of the past eight days, more than 1,000 people with COVID-19 have been hospitalized in the state, according to the latest data from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. Colorado hasn't seen a stretch of numbers that high since the start of 2021.

Here are the most recent CDPHE stats in major categories, updated after 4 p.m. on October 18; they're juxtaposed with information from our previous COVID-19 survey, which tracked information from October 11 and 12.

710,142 cases (up 15,009 from October 11)
19,018 variants of concern (up 167 from October 11)
40.234 hospitalizations (up 598 from October 11)
64 counties (unchanged from October 11)
7,917 deaths among cases (up 127 from October 12)
8,120 deaths due to COVID-19 (up 55 from October 12)
6,313 outbreaks (up 58 from October 12)

The number of new COVID-19 cases dipped slightly, from 16,478 for the week ending October 11 to 15,009 for the week ending October 18. But three of the past ten days registered case counts of more than 2,000, and every day's count was in the quadruple digits.

October 17 — 1,119 Cases
October 16 — 1,362 Cases
October 15 — 1,772 Cases
October 14 — 2,375 Cases
October 13 — 2,735 Cases
October 12 — 1,965 Cases
October 11 — 1,557 Cases
October 10 — 1,595 Cases
October 9 — 1,795 Cases
October 8 — 2,544 Cases

The state's positivity rate remains well over the 5 percent set by health officials. The 8.18 percent state positivity rate for October 18 is up from 7.41 percent on October 12.

The worst recent date for new hospital admissions was October 12, when 189 people were admitted at state medical centers because of COVID. The figure has been adjusted from the original report of 176, and it's the highest since 222 on December 17, 2020. But while the numbers have receded since then, the seven-day average remains over 100 admissions per day.

More than 1,000 COVID patients have been counted each day since October 11, with October 18 peaking at 1,101. The pandemic's highest point for hospitalizations was 1,995 patients on December 2, 2020; the current eight-day streak in excess of 1,000 hospitalizations a day is well short of the nearly two-month period between November 5, 2020, and January 2, 2021, when at least that many patients were receiving treatment. But it's still the worst stretch in 2021 to date. Here are the details:

New Hospital Admissions by Admission Date

October 18, 2021
81 patients admitted to the hospital
105 seven-day average of patients admitted to the hospital

October 17, 2021
24 patients admitted to the hospital
114 seven-day average of patients admitted to the hospital

October 16, 2021
106 patients admitted to the hospital
118 seven-day average of patients admitted to the hospital

October 15, 2021
105 patients admitted to the hospital
108 seven-day average of patients admitted to the hospital

October 14, 2021
111 patients admitted to the hospital
117 seven-day average of patients admitted to the hospital

October 13, 2021
117 patients admitted to the hospital
119 seven-day average of patients admitted to the hospital

October 12, 2021
189 patients admitted to the hospital
116 seven-day average of patients admitted to the hospital

October 11, 2021
144 patients admitted to the hospital
114 seven-day average of patients admitted to the hospital

October 10, 2021
53 patients admitted to the hospital
116 seven-day average of patients admitted to the hospital

October 9, 2021
40 patients admitted to the hospital
116 seven-day average of patients admitted to the hospital

Patients Currently Hospitalized for COVID-19

October 18, 2021
1,101 Total COVID Patients (Confirmed & Suspected/PUI)
1,021 (93 percent) Confirmed COVID-19
80 (7 percent) Persons Under Investigation

October 17, 2021
1,082 Total COVID Patients (Confirmed & Suspected/PUI)
1,004 (93 percent) Confirmed COVID-19
78 (7 percent) Persons Under Investigation

October 16, 2021
1,084 Total COVID Patients (Confirmed & Suspected/PUI)
1,007 (93 percent) Confirmed COVID-19
77 (7 percent) Persons Under Investigation

October 15, 2021
1,066 Total COVID Patients (Confirmed & Suspected/PUI)
983 (92 percent) Confirmed COVID-19
83 (8 percent) Persons Under Investigation

October 14, 2021
1,059 Total COVID Patients (Confirmed & Suspected/PUI)
982 (93 percent) Confirmed COVID-19
77 (7 percent) Persons Under Investigation

October 13, 2021
1,034 Total COVID Patients (Confirmed & Suspected/PUI)
964 (93 percent) Confirmed COVID-19
70 (7 percent) Persons Under Investigation

October 12, 2021
1,045 Total COVID Patients (Confirmed & Suspected/PUI)
976 (93 percent) Confirmed COVID-19
69 (7 percent) Persons Under Investigation

October 11, 2021
1,012 Total COVID Patients (Confirmed & Suspected/PUI)
944 (93 percent) Confirmed COVID-19
68 (7 percent) Persons Under Investigation

October 10, 2021
970 Total COVID Patients (Confirmed & Suspected/PUI)
892 (92 percent) Confirmed COVID-19
78 (8 percent) Persons Under Investigation

October 9, 2021
974 Total COVID Patients (Confirmed & Suspected/PUI)
880 (90 percent) Confirmed COVID-19
94 (10 percent) Persons Under Investigation

Meanwhile, the CDPHE's vaccination data dashboard shows the pace of inoculations flagging. Over the nine days between October 3 and October 12, Colorado officials say another 20,342 people reached full protection status; in the week prior, 28,165 people were fully vaccinated. Daily numbers for Pfizer, Moderna and Janssen/Johnson & Johnson jabs have tumbled, too:

3,526,778 people fully immunized in Colorado (up 20,342 from October 12)
3,834,463 people immunized with at least one dose (up 17,773 from October 12)
1,057 people vaccinated on October 17 with Pfizer vaccine (up 3,323 from October 11); 3,867 immunizations with Pfizer vaccine reported October 17 but administered on an earlier date (down 3,382 from October 11)
251 people immunized on October 17 with Moderna vaccine (down 414 from October 11); 621 immunizations with Moderna vaccine reported October 17 but administered on an earlier date (down 571 from October 11)
21 people vaccinated on October 17 with Janssen (J&J) vaccine (down 94 from October 11); 36 immunizations with Janssen vaccine reported October 17 but administered on an earlier date (down 147 from October 11)

Right now, 79 percent of people hospitalized for COVID-19 in Colorado are unvaccinated, and this group is continuing to stress capacity at medical facilities. Approximately 92 percent of intensive-care unit beds were in use on October 18 — 1,507 of the 1,646 statewide. That leaves just 139 open across the state, and the west, southwest, southeast and San Luis Valley sections of Colorado currently show 0 percent availability of ICU beds — another unfortunate throwback to 2020.