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Colorado Avoids Post-Thanksgiving COVID Spike As Hospitalizations Decline

December 16, 2020 / 11:59 PM MST / CBS Colorado

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DENVER (CBS4) - Health officials say it appears Colorado avoided a spike in COVID-19 transmission following the Thanksgiving holiday. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment credits the recent decrease in cases and hospitalizations to the hard work of Coloradans.

Nearly 300,000 people in the state have tested positive for the virus since the pandemic began. The daily number of COVID-19 cases reported to CDPHE dropped from 6,613 on Nov. 12 to 1,886 on Dec. 14.

(credit: CDPHE)

Hospitalizations have steadily declined after peaking in early December. On Wednesday, CDPHE reported 1,428 confirmed COVID-19 hospital patients, a decrease of 17 from Tuesday.

CDPHE Chief Medical Officer Dr. Eric France said he expects the rollout of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to lower hospitalization rates even more, particularly for people living in residential care facilities.

"We have a vaccine that is 95% efficacious and safe, and we're now providing it to our first healthcare workers this week," Dr. France said. "So it's an exciting time to think that probably within 90 days we'll see hospitalizations be reduced."

(credit: CDPHE)

Denver Health plans to begin distributing the vaccine on Thursday. In a survey of 7,000 staff at the hospital, 90% said they want the vaccine.

"It is great news because it has been a long year, and we are excited to move to the next phase recovery," said Dr. Judith Shlay, Associate Director at Denver Public Health.

Healthcare workers receive COVID-19 vaccinations at Good Samaritan Medical Center (credit: SCL Health Good Samaritan Medical Center)

Dr. France reflected on the vaccines developed during his career as a pediatrician and later working in public health.

"I encourage us all to think about this vaccine, like we did with the new shingles vaccine, or a new chickenpox vaccine. There's always something new coming thanks to our great technologies, and this will have a profound impact on the pandemic and can get us back to our normal lives," Dr. France explained.

Michael G. Rouse received the first and second dose of the Moderna vaccine for UCHealth's Phase 3 trial. Rouse said he wanted to set an example for the African American community.

"I felt it was almost like a personal obligation. Get involved," Rouse explained. "I've had a very healthy life. So I felt I needed to pay it forward."

Michael Rouse was among the first volunteers for UCHealth's Moderna vaccine trial. Recruiting minorities to participate in COVID-19 trials is essential because disproportionate infection rates for minorities merit extra emphasis, local site's leader says. (credit: Cyrus McCrimmon for UCHealth)

The U.S. could be days away from authorizing the Moderna vaccine. Early data shows the vaccine is 95% effective in protecting against COVID-19.

CDPHE hopes to begin Phase 2 of the vaccine rollout by March, which includes 1.8 million Coloradans. The state is currently working to build a public dashboard to track the daily distribution of the vaccine.

(credit: Governor of Colorado's Office)

Since Monday, Colorado has distributed nearly 2,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine. Officials stress that widespread vaccinations will be a key part of reopening the state.

"Additionally, getting the vaccine doesn't mean you stop doing all the things you've been doing to protect yourself and your family and the community," Dr. Shlay added. "We still have to wear masks, you still need to physically distance, we still need to wash our hands."

CDPHE updates COVID-19 data each day at covid19.colorado.gov/data.

CDPHE data as of 4 p.m. Wednesday:

Testing:

35,442 tests conducted on Dec. 15 with 8.91% positivity rate (7-day moving average)
8.8% daily positivity rate on Dec. 15

Hospital Data:

1,428 Patients currently hospitalized, 94% of facilities reporting (-17)
113 Patients under investigation for probable cases, not lab confirmed (+4)
174 Patients discharged/transferred in past 24 hours (-1)
25% Facilities anticipating staff shortages within next week (+0%)
1% Facilities anticipating PPE shortages within next week (+0%)
9% Facilities anticipating ICU bed shortages within next week (+0%)
48% Critical care ventilators in use (+0%)
74% of ICU Beds in use (463 available)

Case Summary (since pandemic began):

296,716 cases (+3,334)
16,614 hospitalized (+127)
1,985,750 tested (+10,065)
3,877,267 test encounters (+35,442)
4,156 deaths among cases (+71)
3,230 deaths due to COVID-19 (+12)
2,736 outbreaks (+66)