Though clusters in K-12 schools grew yet again this week, Colorado experienced a decline in COVID-19 outbreaks for the first time since late March, according to state data released Wednesday, providing additional evidence that the state's fourth wave is beginning to subside.
In all, there are 855 active outbreaks in Colorado across a number of different industries and spaces, from restaurants and child-care centers to schools and nursing homes. That's down from 870 the week before. While that's still far above pre-April levels, it's the first decline since the fourth pandemic wave spiked last month. The state Department of Public Health and Environment releases new outbreak data each Wednesday.
On March 31, there were 578 active outbreaks, the result of weeks of steady declines after the fall surge caused clusters to blossom across Colorado. But outbreaks have steadily grown every week, up until Wednesday.
There have still been increases within the overall data. Outbreaks in K-12 schools have continued to grow week over week, as they have since the first week of April. On March 31, there were 138 outbreaks in Colorado's K-12 schools. As of Wednesday, there are 272; all but 10 of those have been identified in 2021.
That number is up from 265 reported on May 12; 251 one of those clusters were identified this year. There are more infected students this week, another continuing trend: Twenty-six hundred K-12 students have contracted the virus, plus 245 staff members. That's up from 2,478 and 228 last week, respectively.
But though the school outbreaks keep growing, the rate at which they've increased has slowed. Clusters grew regularly by 20 or more clusters each week; that's dropped to seven new in each of the last two weeks.
Though more than 85% of Colorado's oldest residents have been vaccinated, clusters in assisted-living facilities have still climbed since late March, when there were just eight outbreaks there. That number has climbed to 49 as of Wednesday.
Outbreaks in nursing homes are increased nearly four fold since March 31: That week, there were 22 reported statewide. On Wednesday, the state reported 84, the same number as last week.
But there were declines elsewhere. There were fewer outbreaks associated with social gatherings; sit-down restaurants and indoor office settings, among others. There were minor increases for other spaces, like fast food restaurants and religious facilities. But all of those make up relatively few outbreaks, particularly in comparison to K-12 schools and the combined toll of long-term care facilities.
Still, the drop in overall outbreaks comes as the overall pandemic picture in Colorado continues to improve. After April saw spikes to levels unseen since January, the average number of cases, average positivity rate and the number of hospitalizations have all begun to fall.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the seven-day average of new cases dipped below 1,000 since March 21; that number has fallen by more than 45% since its peak on April 25. The average positivity rate has plummeted consistently each day, from nearly 6.5% on April 30 to 4.35%.
Perhaps the most encouraging trend is the early indication that hospitalizations are beginning to drop. On Wednesday, there were 560 total confirmed or suspected COVID-19 admissions; 521 of those patients are confirmed to have the virus. That's the 11th straight day of decline, from 731 total and 679 confirmed COVID-19 hospitalizations, the highest total since late January, on May 8.
