COVID-19 News

Sep 1, 2022

It’s possible that the downward trajectory has paused because kids returned to school and adults went back to their offices, meaning the virus has more chances to spread, said Beth Carlton, associate professor of environmental and occupational health.

Aug 24, 2022

As fall approaches, COVID appears to be on a continuous decline in Colorado, defying trends set in the last two years. “Hospitalizations are down. Wastewater levels are down. Percent positivity (of COVID tests) is down. So as we head into the fall, we are in good shape,” said Dean Jon Samet.

Aug 17, 2022

Wastewater surveillance data continues to show that the virus’ prevalence in Colorado is dropping, said Bailey Fosdick, associate professor of biostatistics and informatics. But while the situation is improving, the virus is still relatively widespread.

Aug 17, 2022

The CDC relaxed its COVID guidelines last week, leaving decision-making mainly to individuals who lack public health training. The lack of a coordinated public health response deprioritizes community health and worsens longstanding health disparities Daniel Goldberg, associate professor of epidemiology, explains.

Aug 4, 2022

Colorado’s COVID-19 hospitalizations dropped 14% from last week. Cases are undercounted, meaning that there’s not a clear picture of how many people are truly infected, but the downward trend is still notable said Talia Quandelacy, assistant professor of epidemiology.

Jul 28, 2022

Colorado’s COVID-19 hospitalizations remain stuck in the same rough zone they’ve hovered in for the past six weeks. Normally, hospitalizations have started to drop about one week after cases began falling, said Talia Quandelacy, assistant professor of epidemiology.

Jul 21, 2022

Omicron variants continue to move through Colorado, keeping positivity rates high. With increasing use of at-home testing kits that often go unreported, Dean Jon Samet says interpreting the surveillance statistics has gotten more complicated.

Jul 20, 2022

New data suggests that people of color continue to be disproportionately affected by the opioid epidemic. Many American Indian and Alaska Native communities have insufficient resources to treat substance-use disorder, explains Jerreed Ivanich, assistant professor of community and behavioral health.

Jul 15, 2022

The most recent data available found that 41% of sequenced samples contained BA.5, making it the most common variant in the state. It likely accounts for a majority of cases at this point, Beth Carlton, associate professor of environmental & occupational health, said.

Jul 14, 2022

Playing wind instruments ­– particularly those in the brass section – can spread respiratory particles that may carry the COVID-19 virus, according to a Colorado State University study led by John Volckens, ColoradoSPH professor of environmental and occupational health.

Jul 8, 2022

COVID-19 infections remain essentially on a plateau in Colorado, and what they do next will depend on how many people are still susceptible to the latest variants. “The good news is hospitalizations are stable,” said Dean Jon Samet. “The bad news is that they’re not going down like we anticipated.”

Jun 30, 2022

The percentage of tests coming back positive seemed to have leveled out, with the average bouncing around 11%. “I think the word of the day is ‘plateau,'” said Beth Carlton, associate professor of environmental and occupational health.

Jun 25, 2022

American Indians and Alaska Natives faced similar population-level health challenges, noted Michelle Sarche, associate professor in the Centers for American Indian & Alaska Native Health and Department of Community & Behavioral Health, saying many tribal communities face underlying health challenges.

Jun 23, 2022

Hospitalizations, the percentage of tests coming back positive and cases all dropped in the week ending Sunday. While the number of people who are contagious in the state remains high, this wave may have peaked, said Beth Carlton, associate professor of environmental and occupational health.

Jun 9, 2022

Colorado’s COVID-19 hospitalizations and cases rose less steeply this past week, but it doesn’t appear that the current upswing is over. “It seems like, generally, we are still on an upslope,” said Talia Quandelacy, assistant professor of epidemiology.

Jun 2, 2022

COVID-19 hospitalizations are rising in Colorado, significantly increasing compared to mid-April. “It’s fair to assume the virus is fairly widespread” said Beth Carlton, associate professor of environmental and occupational health. “Whatever hope of a plateau there was last week is gone for now”.

May 26, 2022

Coloradans should assume there’s a good chance that if they’re in a crowd, someone around them is contagious with the virus, said Beth Carlton, associate professor of environmental and occupational health. Since more people are using at-home tests, it’s hard to get an accurate count of cases, but all the data suggests the virus is widespread.

May 16, 2022

Coronavirus cases are spreading at an alarming rate across the United States, particularly in the Northeast and the Midwest according to the New York Times, citing the ColoradoSPH modeling team's latest statistics on the spread of the BA.2.12.1 subvariant in Colorado.

May 13, 2022

The CDPHE and ColoradoSPH released an updated modeling report which indicates COVID-19 transmission is on a relatively slow upward trend in Colorado as indicated by percent positivity, wastewater concentration, and hospitalizations. Projections indicate potential for the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 reaching 500 or higher by mid-June.

May 12, 2022

Driven by her passion for microbiology and infectious disease, Angela Golding, MPH student in epidemiology, shares her experiences and the lessons she's learned conducting interviews for the Colorado Integrated Food Safety Center of Excellence's Enteric Disease Interview Team (EDIT).