COVID-19 pandemic in Colorado

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The COVID-19 pandemic reached Colorado on March 5, 2020, when the state's first two cases were confirmed. Many of the early COVID-19 cases in Colorado occurred in mountain resort towns such as Crested Butte, Aspen, and Vail, apparently brought in, and sometimes taken home, by international ski tourists.^[3]

In late 2020 a COVID-19 surge began in Colorado and most other mountain and Midwestern states, peaking in November/December. November 13's 6,437 COVID-19 cases and December 9's 267 COVID-related deaths set new single day records for Colorado.^[4] On June 29, 2021 Colorado public health authorities (CDPHE) reported 343 COVID-19 cases, increasing the state's cumulative total of new cases since the start of the pandemic to 557,347.^[4] Colorado's death toll is 6,788, with 12 new deaths reported over the past 24 hours. As of June 29, 9.67% of Colorado residents have been positively diagnosed with COVID-19.^[5] The 7-day moving average of new COVID-19 cases in Colorado is 316 cases per day. Despite a rise in spring 2021, there has been a general downward trend in the number of new COVID-19 cases since late November, when the 7 day moving average hit 5,064 on November 21, 2020.^[4]

Governor Jared Polis issued a statewide mask mandate in mid-July to avoid the sharp surge of COVID-19 cases and deaths then observed in Arizona, Texas, Florida, Georgia and other states where mask wearing was optional.^[6] A CDPHE web page explains the mask mandate and the science supporting the use of masks to reduce spread of respiratory diseases like COVID-19.^[7] Ten months later, Colorado's per capita COVID-19 death rate is less than half that of South Dakota, whose governor, Kristi Noem, most notably refused to issue a mask mandate despite a severe surge in cases in autumn 2020.^[8]

The return of college students to the University of Colorado Boulder campus quickly resulted in a dramatic spike in COVID-19 cases. The average two week case rate among 18-22 year olds in Boulder County rose from 200 cases in early September to 3,780 cases by the end of the month.^[9] The spike was limited to this narrow age group; the new case rate among all other age groups remained steady and low. The Boulder County Department of Public Health advised University of Colorado students to quarantine at home until October 5.^[10] The quarantine order proved effective, and by mid October the two week case rate among all age groups in Boulder County had dropped to 250 or lower.^[9]

In Colorado, major COVID-19 outbreaks occurred in meatpacking plants in Weld and Morgan Counties, prisons in Washington and Crowley Counties, and in agricultural facilities in the San Luis Valley such as a mushroom "factory" near Alamosa and a potato packing shed near Center. About half of COVID-19 deaths in Colorado have been associated with nursing homes.^[11]

As of June 29, 2021 Colorado had administered 6,177,682 COVID-19 vaccine doses, 7% more than the state's entire adult population.^[5] Since two doses are required for both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, the total number considered fully vaccinated is about 3 million residents, representing over 50 percent of the state's adult population.^[12][13]