'The Right Trajectory': COVID-19 Cases Drop For Second Week In Colorado

DENVER (CBS4) - For the second week in a row, Colorado reported a drop in COVID-19 cases. After seeing a second spike in early July, the state is turning a corner.

"Coloradans should say yeah we are doing a good job but the immediate next phrase is but we got to keep doing it," Dr. Johnathan Samet said.

Dr. Samet is the dean of the Colorado School of Public Health. He is also leading the team developing models for the state.

"Case counts have come down experiencing few deaths, far fewer people in the hospital as before, we are on the right trajectory," he said.

This comes after a state mandate on wearing masks and renewed focus on social distancing, but Dr. Samet says it's hard to pinpoint the factor that is fueling the decline.

He says timing does help to zero in on possibilities.

"One the governor did close bars and that may have made a difference. A lot of the surge in cases has been in young people," he said.

While the numbers are headed in the right direction, there is work to be done. Colorado continues to increase the amount of testing available but Dr. Samet says having rapid results will lead to better contact tracing and ultimately slowing the spread.

"As our universities reopen and teams play sports, we are going to need the capacity to do a lot more testing in different places, bring students back together, really need to be able to sort out who is positive and who is not," he said.