Colorado continued to see novel coronavirus cases and hospitalizations increase during the Thanksgiving holiday, with 1,665 people spending the holiday in the hospital with confirmed COVID-19.
The state Department of Public Health and Environment also reported 5,507 new COVID-19 cases, a more than 50% increase from the day before.
Despite the large increase, the number of new cases reported Thursday is in line with recent daily case counts. There have been signs that the rapid transmission of the novel coronavirus — which has pushed new cases and hospitalizations to record levels — was slowing. But it’s still unclear if infections are starting to level off, especially since the number of new cases remains elevated. Public health officials have been concerned that Thanksgiving gatherings could cause a spike in cases.
The percentage of tests coming back positive over the past seven days is 11.13%. The positivity is above the recommended 5% threshold and means transmission of the disease is increasing and that the rise in new cases is not simply due to more testing.
