DENVER (KDVR) — Before Christmas, Colorado’s COVID-19 rates were dropping. Fast-forward by two weeks, and rates are rising in a drastic way.
COVID-19 positivity rates and incidence rates are up over the last two weeks.
As of Monday, the state’s 7-day positivity rate was 23.99%, which is up dramatically from 6.73% two weeks ago. Positivity rate measures the amount of COVID positive tests to the total amount of tests taken.
The highest positivity rate in the state over the past seven days is Eagle County with 40.7% positivity.
The 7-day average of people admitted to Colorado hospitals with COVID doubled in just days following Christmas. Since the beginning of 2022, hospital admissions have hovered around 220 people per day – the highest since last November’s wave and the 2020 fall wave before that.
According to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, the incidence rates increased over the last two weeks.
Here’s a look at positivity rates for every county over the last seven days:
1-week positivity rate:
- Adams: 29.7%
- Alamosa: 11.7%
- Arapahoe: 28.2%
- Archuleta: 21.6%
- Baca: 3.7%
- Bent: 6.3%
- Boulder: 19.8%
- Broomfield: 23.4%
- Chaffee: 23.4%
- Cheyenne: 2%
- Clear Creek: 23.3%
- Conejos: 7.1%
- Costilla: 4.2%
- Crowley: 9.5%
- Custer: 13.1%
- Delta: 8.6%
- Denver: 24.4%
- Dolores: 11.8%
- Douglas: 25.6%
- Eagle: 40.7%
- El Paso: 25.5%
- Elbert: 27.9%
- Fremont: 6.5%
- Garfield: 27.8%
- Gilpin: 27%
- Grand: 33%
- Gunnison: 24.3%
- Hinsdale: Fewer than 10 tests in the past week
- Huerfano: 13.7%
- Jackson: 17.2%
- Jefferson: 23.7%
- Kiowa: 0.0%
- Kit Carson: 2.1%
- La Plata: 26.2%
- Lake: 33.3%
- Larimer: 19.4%
- Las Animas: 11.5%
- Lincoln: 13.6%
- Logan: 7.4%
- Mesa: 12.2%
- Mineral: Fewer than 10 tests in the past week
- Moffat: 25.7%
- Montezuma: 9.8%
- Montrose: 12.5%
- Morgan: 16.3%
- Otero: 7.5%
- Ouray: 31.7%
- Park: 32.2%
- Phillips: 12.8%
- Pitkin: 34.6%
- Prowers: 2.9%
- Pueblo: 15.9%
- Rio Blanco: 9%
- Rio Grande: 7.4%
- Routt: 30.7%
- Saguache: 9.8%
- San Juan: Fewer than 10 tests in the past week
- San Miguel: 29.7%
- Sedgwick: 7.8%
- Summit: 38.8%
- Teller: 16.8%
- Washington: 7.9%
- Weld: 21.7%
- Yuma: 16.4%
What is the positivity percent?
According to Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the percent positive is exactly what it sounds like: the percentage of all coronavirus tests performed that are actually positive, or: (positive tests)/(total tests) x 100%. The percent positive (sometimes called the “percent positive rate” or “positivity rate”) helps public health officials answer questions such as:
- What is the current level of SARS-CoV-2 (coronavirus) transmission in the community?
- Are we doing enough testing for the amount of people who are getting infected?
The percent positive will be high if the number of positive tests is too high, or if the number of total tests is too low. A higher percent positive suggests higher transmission and that there are likely more people with coronavirus in the community who haven’t been tested yet, Johns Hopkins shared.