Colorado s COVID numbers settle into high plateau; experts warn situation remains unstable gazette.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from gazette.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
and last updated 2021-04-22 22:30:23-04
DENVER â Gov. Polis and state health officials have been saying for months theyâre serious about getting the COVID-19 vaccine to communities hardest-hit by the coronavirus pandemic, but data at the state and local level show their commitment to that cause has been lackluster at best.
Numbers from the stateâs COVID-19 website show Latinos â who make up nearly 27% of all COVID-19 cases across the state â have only been vaccinated at around 9%, compared to whites, who make up 43% of all COVID-19 cases and who have been vaccinated at around 71%.
That disparity in vaccine equity doesnât stop at the state level. Data from Denver Public Health shows Latinos in Denver, for example, make up nearly half of all COVID-19 cases (47.2%) but have only been vaccinated at about 26% compared to whites, who make up nearly 39% of all cases, but who have been vaccinated at about 60%.
Our View: COVID-19 state restrictions: lifted too soon?
Durango, Colorado Currently Thu 4% chance of precipitation 22% chance of precipitation 0% chance of precipitation 13% chance of precipitation
Were state restrictions lifted too soon?
Thursday, April 22, 2021 5:03 AM Updated 8 hours 18 minutes ago
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At the end of last week, Gov. Jared Polis lifted statewide COVID-19 restrictions and left decisions about continued restrictions up to local county public health directors.
On its surface, that might make sense to some people.
But does it really? Colorado is experiencing a fourth wave of infections, mostly of new variants. The Colorado School of Public Health computer models indicate that waiting until mid-May would have been optimum in terms of preventing severe illness, increases in hospitalization and fatalities from COVID-19. In
Colorado health officials warn of a new surge as counties loosen virus restrictions.
Health officials say the uptick in Colorado has been fueled in part by the spread of more contagious variants, particularly B.1.1.7.Credit.Benjamin Rasmussen for The New York Times
By Madeleine Ngo
April 18, 2021, 2:37 p.m. ET
Health officials in Colorado are warning about another wave of infections as new coronavirus cases in the state jump to levels not seen since January and as counties start to loosen virus restrictions.
The state is reporting an average of 1,661 new cases a day, up by 18 percent in the past two weeks, according to a New York Times database. Hospitalizations have climbed by 19 percent in the same time period. Deaths from the virus, which tend to lag behind infections for several weeks, have slightly increased.
With the retirement of Colorado’s color-coded COVID-19 restrictions dial, state and local leaders are today steering Colorado toward a pandemic off-ramp. Whether that succeeds or fails will depend mightily on a few more weeks of personal responsibility and restraint from a restrictions-fatigued population.