State’s coronavirus cases near 22,000

Cases of the novel coronavirus in Colorado approached 22,000 on Sunday, and 1,215 people who had COVID-19 now have died, according to state public health officials.

The number of people in Colorado whose death certificates directly report they died from the COVID-19 respiratory disease remained unchanged from the prior day, at 878.

After some criticism and controversy, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment on Friday changed the way it reports coronavirus deaths, and now updates two fatality figures each day.

The larger number includes anybody who died who had COVID-19, even if COVID-19 is not what was listed on their death certificate. This is the data, culled from multiple sources, that the state has publicly reported since early March, and is required to submit to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

That figure rose by 23 on Sunday over what had been reported the day before.

The smaller number, introduced on Friday, represents only those whose death certificates attribute their deaths to the coronavirus, and there is a lag on when that data makes its way to health officials. The state’s COVID-19 data page says that figure will be “updated daily for dates through the previous Saturday.”

Since early March, 3,872 people have been hospitalized with the novel coronavirus, and by Sunday only 486 were currently hospitalized, according to the data. That’s the lowest number of patients currently hospitalized with confirmed COVID-19 cases since the end of March.

About 363 ventilators are in use, of 710 available across the state.

In the past 24 hours, 34 people recovered enough from COVID19 to be discharged from a hospital or transferred to a lower level of care, according to the state. The novel coronavirus cause mild symptoms in many patients, but can be severe and fatal in some, particularly those with underlying health conditions or those who are older.

While 21,938 people have tested positive for or are believed to have COVID-19 in Colorado, officials suspect the number of infections is actually many times higher than the cases confirmed through testing.

The state health department announces new totals daily of coronavirus deaths and confirmed cases based on what’s reported up from Colorado’s counties; though the deaths and positive test results may be announced on a particular day, they may have occurred any time in the past and are just now being reported to the state.