DENVER (KDVR) — Are we finally ahead of the peak of the omicron spike in Colorado? Both the COVID-19 positivity rate and incidence rates are down over the last week in Colorado.
As of Monday, the state’s seven-day positivity rate was 24.54%, which is down from 27.47% last week. Positivity rate measures the amount of COVID positive tests to the total amount of tests taken.
Over the last seven days, 36 counties saw a decrease in COVID-19 positivity, 27 counties saw an increase in positivity, and one county had fewer then 10 tests over the past week.
The highest positivity rate in the state over the past seven days is Phillips County with 53.5% positivity.
According to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, incidence rates dropped over the last seven days.
Here’s a look at positivity rates for every county over the last seven days:
One-week positivity rate:
- Adams: 26.5% (down from last week)
- Alamosa: 22.4% (up from last week)
- Arapahoe: 24.1% (down from last week)
- Archuleta: 32.2% (up from last week)
- Baca: 12% (up from last week)
- Bent: 7.9%% (down from last week)
- Boulder: 19.6% (down from last week)
- Broomfield: 22.6% (down from last week)
- Chaffee: 18.6% (down from last week)
- Cheyenne: 6.1% (down from last week)
- Clear Creek: 23.7%(down from last week)
- Conejos: 27.3% (up from last week)
- Costilla: 31.4% (up from last week)
- Crowley: 16.5% (down from last week)
- Custer: 36.5% (up from last week)
- Delta: 20.9% (down from last week)
- Denver: 19.5% (down from last week)
- Dolores: 34.5% (up from last week)
- Douglas: 27.4% (down from last week)
- Eagle: 26.3% (down from last week)
- El Paso: 31.8% (down from last week)
- Elbert: 28% (down from last week)
- Fremont: 21.8% (up from last week)
- Garfield: 25.3% (down from last week)
- Gilpin: 26.5% (down from last week)
- Grand: 30% (down from last week)
- Gunnison: 22.3% (down from last week)
- Hinsdale: Fewer than 10 tests over last week
- Huerfano: 17.4% (up from last week)
- Jackson: 8.3% (down from last week)
- Jefferson: 21.7% (down from last week)
- Kiowa: 3.1% (down from last week)
- Kit Carson: 3.4% (down from last week)
- La Plata: 24.4% (down from last week)
- Lake: 34.2% (down from last week)
- Larimer: 24.2% (down from last week)
- Las Animas: 20.4% (up from last week)
- Lincoln: 26.6% (up from last week)
- Logan: 18.4% (up from last week)
- Mesa: 23.5% (up from last week)
- Mineral: 15.4% (up from last week)
- Moffat: 25.2% (up from last week)
- Montezuma: 24.2% (up from last week)
- Montrose: 22.8% (up from last week)
- Morgan: 17.9% (down from last week)
- Otero: 18.5% (up from last week)
- Ouray: 24.8% (up from last week)
- Park: 28% (down from last week)
- Phillips: 53.5% (up from last week)
- Pitkin: 24.5% (down from last week)
- Prowers: 19.3% (down from last week)
- Pueblo: 28.7% (up from last week)
- Rio Blanco: 9.7% (down from last week)
- Rio Grande: 16.3% (up from last week)
- Routt: 21.5% (down from last week)
- Saguache: 23.3% (up from last week)
- San Juan: 34.2% (up from last week)
- San Miguel: 10.7% (down from last week)
- Sedgwick: 15.3% (up from last week)
- Summit: 21.8% (down from last week)
- Teller: 20.7% (down from last week)
- Washington: 18.4% (up from last week)
- Weld: 31.1% (up from last week)
- Yuma: 16.6% (down from last week)
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.