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DENVER (KDVR) — As kids head back to school, COVID-19 rates continue to drop in Colorado. If you haven’t already ordered your three rounds of free COVID tests from the federal government, the test kit ordering program will be suspended on Sept. 2.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has moved one county into the high community level over the last week:

  1. Baca County

The CDC said communities with a high community level of COVID-19 should do the following:

As of Monday, the state’s seven-day positivity rate was 6.31%, which is down from 6.64% one week ago. The positivity rate measures the amount of COVID positive tests compared to the total amount of tests taken.

Overall, 30 Colorado counties saw a decrease in COVID-19 positivity, 23 counties saw an increase, seven counties administered fewer than 10 tests, and four counties stayed the same.

According to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, incidence rates are down over the last seven days.

CDPHE, 8/29/22

Here’s a look at positivity rates for every county over the last seven days:

  • Adams: 8.4% (down)
  • Alamosa: 3.4% (up)
  • Arapahoe: 7.3% (same)
  • Archuleta: 25% (up)
  • Baca: 1.1% (down)
  • Bent: 0.7% (down)
  • Boulder: 7.1% (up)
  • Broomfield: 4.4% (down)
  • Chaffee: 5.7% (down)
  • Cheyenne: 0.0% (same)
  • Clear Creek: 5.6% (down)
  • Conejos: 3.6% (up)
  • Costilla: 8.8% (up)
  • Crowley: 4.4% (up)
  • Custer: 3.6% (down)
  • Delta: 1.7% (down)
  • Denver: 6.4% (down)
  • Dolores: Fewer than 10 tests over last week
  • Douglas: 8.2% (up)
  • Eagle: 15.3% (up)
  • El Paso: 6.7% (down)
  • Elbert: 8.5% (up)
  • Fremont: 3.3% (up)
  • Garfield: 4.9% (down)
  • Gilpin: 5.6% (down)
  • Grand: 15% (up)
  • Gunnison: 7.4% (up)
  • Hinsdale: Fewer than 10 tests over last week
  • Huerfano: 1.2% (up)
  • Jackson: Fewer than 10 tests over last week
  • Jefferson: 5.2% (same)
  • Kiowa: Fewer than 10 tests over last week
  • Kit Carson: 2.5% (down)
  • La Plata: 8.5% (down)
  • Lake: Fewer than 10 tests over last week
  • Larimer: 6.8% (down)
  • Las Animas: 1.7% (up)
  • Lincoln: 3.8% (down)
  • Logan: 3.1% (down)
  • Mesa: 3.4% (down)
  • Mineral: Fewer than 10 tests over last week
  • Moffat: 5.4% (down)
  • Montezuma: 9.9% (up)
  • Montrose: 4.2% (up)
  • Morgan: 1.7% (down)
  • Otero: 2.8% (up)
  • Ouray: 7.7% (same)
  • Park: 14.7% (down)
  • Phillips: 35% (down)
  • Pitkin: 14.9% (down)
  • Prowers: 3.5% (up)
  • Pueblo: 4.9% (down)
  • Rio Blanco: 7.5% (up)
  • Rio Grande: 2.9% (up)
  • Routt: 3.7% (down)
  • Saguache: 8% (down)
  • San Juan: Fewer than 10 tests over last week
  • San Miguel: 4.9% (down)
  • Sedgwick: 2.9% (up)
  • Summit: 21.7% (down)
  • Teller: 3.4% (down)
  • Washington: 2.7% (up)
  • Weld: 7.5% (down)
  • Yuma: 4.1% (up)

What is the positivity percent?

According to Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the percent positive is exactly what it sounds like: the percentage of all coronavirus tests performed that are actually positive, or: (positive tests)/(total tests) x 100%. The percent positive (sometimes called the “percent positive rate” or “positivity rate”) helps public health officials answer questions such as:

  • What is the current level of SARS-CoV-2 (coronavirus) transmission in the community?
  • Are we doing enough testing for the amount of people who are getting infected?

The percent positive will be high if the number of positive tests is too high, or if the number of total tests is too low. A higher percent positive suggests higher transmission and that there are likely more people with coronavirus in the community who haven’t been tested yet, Johns Hopkins shared.