Where Colorado stands with COVID-19

Colorado's COVID-19 cases are continuing to plummet, tracking with national trends, but the state's transmission remains high.

The latest: Infection rates are no longer at the 2020 and 2021 peaks with cases averaging near 3,000 a week, Rachel Herlihy, the state's epidemiologist, told reporters Thursday.

• Hospitalizations also are trending south, with the state posting the eighth-lowest rate based on seven-day averages.
• Deaths continue to increase, however, and a new report found patients with COVID died at a higher rate than the broader hospital population.

What they're saying: The state's transmission rate is 11% — twice as high as the 5% level public health officials are targeting. "We still have a ways to go," Herlihy said.

The big picture: Colorado is part of the great unmasking across the U.S. as Omicron fades.

• But mixed messages abound as state and local public health officials continue to encourage masks indoors even as they repeal mandates.

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