DENVER — COVID-19 infections in Colorado will continue to decline for the next six to eight weeks, according to an updated statewide modeling report released by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and the Colorado School of Public Health.
That decline will come despite an increase in human contact that comes with the beginning of a new school year, the report says.
“COVID-19 infections have been declining for several weeks which is good news for Coloradans and we expect it to continue this way through early October,” said Dr. Rachel Herlihy, state epidemiologist, in a statement. “However, we've learned that COVID-19 is unpredictable and new variants could emerge. We continue to monitor closely for several emerging variants and subvariants.”
The report says infections have been declining for more than three weeks, based on percent positivity, wastewater concentration and hospitalizations. About 1 in 162 people are infected as of Aug. 16.
The BA.5 variant accounts for most cases in Colorado and across the country, according to the report. Due to a recent wave of BA.5 infections, immunity has increased over the past two months.
The report says the course of the pandemic after October in Colorado is unknown and will be determined by any new variants that may arise but as of now, there is not a clear variant of concern.
Health officials said the best protection against COVID-19 is to get vaccinated with all recommended vaccine doses.
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