DENVER (KDVR) – Counties aren’t overreacting with their increased COVID restrictions, but we’re also a far cry from the pandemic’s early days.

This week, half a dozen of Colorado’s most populous counties are ratcheting up their COVID restrictions to tamp down on rising case numbers. Adams and Denver counties are moving to Safer at Home 3, Arapahoe, Otero, Crowley and La Plata counties are moving to Safer at Home 2 and Mesa County moved to Safer at Home 1. 

For localities and Colorado, COVID hospitalizations, cases and positivity rates are as bad as they were in late May when we were coming out of the worst of the initial pandemic hit. However, we’re also performing six times as many tests as May, and our October death counts are the lowest yet.

Denver reported 375 new cases on Oct. 25 – more than any other day in pandemic history, and twice the daily amount of any day but two.

Oct. 25 also saw 98 people in Denver hospitalized with COVID-19 – a number not seen since May 25 as the state emerged from the pandemic’s worst. The two-week moving average of new hospitalizations is now 4.4 per day – not since early June.

Still, deaths have continued trending downward.

October brought eight COVID-19 deaths to Denver – fewer than any month on record. 

The most recent Denver positivity rate was 8.1%, unmatched since late May. However, the city is also administering twice as many tests from the same time period.

Statewide, the hospitalization rate matches Denver’s.

Oct. 25 saw 586 total patients hospitalized for confirmed or suspected COVID-19 – matching the amount of patients confirmed or suspected in hospitals on May 23. New hospital admissions two-week average was 349 – matching the weeks of mid-May.

The statewide positivity rate is slightly lower than Denver’s at 6.67%, not seen since May 30. Also like Denver, the state performed far more tests total on Oct. 25 than May 30. It performed 31,847 tests on Oct. 25, six times more than the amount on May 30.