Colorado COVID Hospitalizations Up, New Variants Splintering

Once again, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment has changed the way it's tracking COVID-19. This week, the agency completely revamped its main COVID-19 website in conjunction with a shift from daily data presentations to weekly calculations, in line with current recommendations from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The new approach calls for updates after 4 p.m. Wednesdays. The first came yesterday, November 2, and the new stats reveal significant increases in cases and hospitalizations linked to the disease. Meanwhile, new variants that have been making incursions across Colorado in recent weeks are gaining ground on the dominant Omicron strain, including at least one mutation that just made its first appearance in the state.

Here are the numbers from the state health department in major categories from November 2:

1,674,577 cases
69,739 hospitalized
13,428 deaths among cases
14,154 deaths due to COVID-19
9,966 outbreaks

In the past, the best way to determine COVID-19's progress was to compare the latest figures to those from a week earlier, as documented in our previous roundup. But the redesigned website now does the math. These are the results for November 2:

Cases reported this week: 5,515, up 907
Cases reported for previous weeks: 649
Seven-day positivity rate: 9.8
Currently hospitalized: 218, up 35
New hospital admissions: 382, up 35

Four takeaways:

• Over the past month, new cases have been increasing by close to 10 percent per week, even though most infected individuals now use home tests whose results aren't reported to the CDPHE. The number of new cases for the week ending October 26 was 5,160, compared to 5,515 for the week ending November 2.

• The 218 people hospitalized for COVID-19 on November 2 is an increase from 183 on October 26. The new hospital admissions total of 382 is considerably higher, suggesting that many patient stays have been relatively brief. But the seven-day average for new admissions on November 1 landed at 55, much higher than the 38 just two weeks earlier.

• Fatality stats continue to linger in a range that's become familiar since summertime. Deaths among cases registered at 26 on November 2, up slightly from the 24 registered on both October 19 and October 26, but deaths attributed to COVID-19 slid from 32 on October 26 to 29 on November 2.

• On October 26, the state's seven-day-average positivity rate, which had been hovering close to the 5 percent mark the CDPHE prefers not to exceed, leaped to 8.93 percent, then to 9.8 percent on November 2, reaching 9.8 percent.

Meanwhile, the samples sequenced by the state health department for the week of October 16, the most recent available, show a weakening of Omicron 5; it has accounted for 80 percent or more of infections lately, but came in at 65.06 percent. Meanwhile, BQ.1, a mutation dubbed "troublesome" by the CDC's Dr. Anthony Fauci, climbed from 4.6 percent to 8.43 percent, and the related BQ.1.1, which hadn't previously reached Colorado, debuted at 3.61 percent. Also registering were BF.7 (8.43 percent), BA.4 (also 8.43 percent), BA.2.75 (2.31 percent), BA.5.26 (1.20 percent), and "other" (1.20 percent).

New or tweaked outbreaks revealed by the CDPHE continue to pile up at a steady rate. On November 2, the CDPHE reported 31 additions to its roster, following 34 on October 19 and another 34 October 26. As usual, they're dominated by health-care facilities that specialize in senior care — but whereas each entry last week had experienced at least one previous outbreak, four on the list this time around hadn't previously experienced one.

Here are the 31 new or tweaked outbreaks identified by the CDPHE on November 2, including information about categories, county of origin, and the date when the spread was officially recognized. The department no longer provides details regarding the overall number of infections or deaths, or whether they pertain to residents, staff members or attendees.

1. Advantage Treatment Center — Alamosa: October 2022, Correctional, Alamosa County, 10/25/2022
2. Brookdale Greeley (2303B5): November 2022, Healthcare, Assisted Living, Weld County, 10/31/2022
3. Continuing Care at Wind Crest (23A843): October 2022, Healthcare, Assisted Living, Douglas County, 10/17/2022
4. Englewood Post Acute and Rehabilitation (020481): October 2022,Healthcare, Nursing Facility, Arapahoe County, 10/26/2022
5. Evergreen Nursing Home (021065): October 2022, Healthcare, Nursing Facility, Alamosa County, 10/28/2022
6. Fountain View Health and Rehabilitation Center (020561): October 2022, Healthcare, Nursing Facility, El Paso County, 10/26/2022
7. Fremont Correctional Facility: October 2022, State Prison, Fremont County, 10/27/2022
8. Highline Place (23L199): October 2022, Healthcare, Assisted Living, Arapahoe County, 10/20/2022
9. Hillcrest Care Center (020197): October 2022, Healthcare, Nursing Facility, Yuma County, 10/26/2022
10. Homeward Bound: October 2022, Homeless Shelter, Mesa County, 10/27/2022
11. Ivory Assisted Living, LLC (23M119), Healthcare, Assisted Living, Arapahoe County, 11/1/2022
12. Kavod Senior Life (230445): October 2022, Healthcare, Assisted Living, Denver County, 10/31/2022
13. Libby Bortz Assisted Living Center (2304GF): October 2022, Healthcare, Assisted Living, Arapahoe County, 10/27/2022
14. Little Mountain Climbers Preschool & Daycare, Child Care Center, El Paso County, 11/1/2022
15. Meadow Vista Assisted Living at Walden (23W793), Healthcare, Assisted Living, Jefferson County, 10/21/2022
16. Monte Vista Estates, LLC (021023): October 2022, Healthcare, Nursing Facility, Rio Grande County, 10/17/2022
17. Park Forest Care Center (020450): October 2022, Healthcare, Nursing Facility, Adams County, 10/24/2022
18. Pine Grove Crossing (23N138): October 2022, Healthcare, Assisted Living, Douglas County, 10/25/2022
19. Pioneer Health Care Center (020256): October 2022, Healthcare, Nursing Facility, Otero County, 10/17/2022
20. Poudre Canyon Health and Rehabilitation Center (020395): October 2022, Healthcare, Nursing Facility, Larimer County, 10/31/2022
21. Promedica Total Rehab+ Lakewood (02A935): October 2022, Healthcare, Nursing Facility, Jefferson County, 10/12/2022
22. River Valley Inn Nursing Home (02Z787): October 2022, Healthcare, Nursing Facility, Rio Grande County, 10/17/2022
23. Rocky Mountain Assisted Living (23G933): October 2022, Healthcare, Assisted Living, Douglas County, 10/21/2022
24. Someren Glen Assisted Living (2304VQ): October 2022, Healthcare, Assisted Living, Arapahoe County, 10/13/2022
25. Tender Care Assisted Living LLC (230414), Healthcare, Assisted Living, Jefferson County, 10/24/2022
26. The Center at Cordera, LLC (02U322): October 2022, Healthcare, Nursing Facility, El Paso County, 10/26/2022
27. The Center at Lincoln, LLC (02S302): October 2022, Healthcare, Nursing Facility, Douglas County, 10/24/2022
28. University Park Care Center (020650): October 2022, Healthcare, Nursing Facility, Pueblo County, 10/24/2022
29. Villa Manor Care Center (020451): October 2022, Healthcare, Nursing Facility, Jefferson County, 10/17/2022
30. Walbridge Memorial Convalescent Wing (020867): October 2022, Healthcare, Nursing Facility, Rio Blanco County, 11/1/2022
31. Wheatridge Manor Care Center (020436): October 2022, Healthcare, Nursing Facility, Jefferson County, 10/31/2022