DENVER – Colorado’s COVID-19 hospitalizations are at their highest peak since last December, according to state data.
As of Wednesday, the state had nearly 1,254 hospitalizations, with 80% made up of unvaccinated COVID-19 patients, according to the Colorado health department’s data dashboard. That state data indicates that 30% of state hospital facilities are anticipating ICU bed shortages in the next week.
Democratic Gov. Jared Polis issued two executive orders on Sunday in response to the state’s hospitalization increase – one calling for additional National Guard resources and another ordering hospitals and emergency departments to transfer or stop admitting new patients because of the lack of hospital beds.
From Oct. 26 to Nov. 2, one in every 281 people in Colorado was diagnosed with COVID-19, making it the ninth-highest rate among states of new cases per 100,000 residents, according to AP data.
The state’s seven-day rolling average of daily new cases has risen over the past two weeks from nearly 2,254 new cases per day in late October to 2,899 new cases per day as of Monday.
When Colorado hit its previous peak of COVID-19 hospitalizations last winter, the state reported on Nov. 13, 2020, that 85% of acute care beds were filled, leaving 1,372 remaining beds. But as of Tuesday, the state reported 90% of acute care beds filled with only 895 beds available.
