pueblo 62,915 892 168,424 37,355.1 rio blanco 2,252 15 6,324 35,610.4 rio grande 3,700 48 11,267 32,839.3 routt 7,945 34 25,638 30,989.2 saguache 1,557 12 6,824 22,816.5 san juan 313 0 728 42,994.5 san miguel 2,725 8 8,179 33,317.0 sedgwick 588 12 2,248 26,156.6 summit 12,096 15 31,011 39,005.5 teller 5,953 68 25,388 23,448.1 washington 1,269 36 4,908 25,855.7 weld 107,417 788 324,492 33,103.1 yuma 2,359 27 10,019 23,545.3 updated may 10, 2023, with data through the previous saturdaydata is publicly reported bycolorado department of public health and environment county where individuals with a positive case reside. location of diagnosis and treatment may vary. reported confirmed and probable cases. actual case numbers are probably higher. includes 270 international cases not assigned to any county. includes 2 international deaths not assigned to any county. includes 66 deaths from unknown counties. july 2019 population estimate from "u.s. census bureau quick facts: colorado". united states census bureau. retrieved july 29, 2020. consolidated city-county march 2020 on march 5, 2020 public health officials reported the first two cases of coronavirus in the state. the first known case was a man in his 30s visiting summit county who had traveled to italy in february with a companion who later tested positive for the virus. the second case was an elderly woman in douglas county who had traveled on an international cruise. both cases were considered presumptive positives; they had been tested by the state but had not been sent to the centers for disease control and prevention(cdc) for verification. on march 6, with six new cases of coronavirus, the case count climbed to eight, seven of whom had traveled abroad recently. on march 10, governor jared polis declared a state of emergency. polis also announced 17 total presumptive positive cases in the state. the state announced a drive-up testing facility for patients with a doctor's note in denver's lowry neighborhood, at no charge to the patients. on march 11, the university of colorado boulder (cu boulder) cancelled the 72nd annual conference on world affairs. the nederland town board of trustees cancelled the annual frozen dead guy days, following a boulder county public health recommendation. the event was scheduled for the weekend of march 13. on march 12, a post malone concert at denver's pepsi center proceeded as scheduled, drawing a sellout-crowd of 20,000, likely the largest enclosed gathering in the u.s. before widespread lockdowns. on march 12, a cu boulder employee received a presumptive positive test for covid-19. the employee worked on march 9 from 8 a.m. to noon in limited areas of the center for community dining center. despite boulder county health's recommendations, the annual may bolder boulder race and the boulder creek festival were still scheduled. many major school districts, including denver public schools, jefferson county public schools and cherry creek public schools, announced closures lasting at least two weeks. due to the current strain on medical facilities in mountain communities, governor jared polis discouraged mountain travel for the elderly. on march 13, colorado reported its first covid-19-related death: an 80-year-old woman with underlying health issues from el paso county. to offset the loss of quarantined medical personnel, governor jared polis asked former doctors and nurses to rejoin the stressed medical workforce. due to low temperatures, the lowry drive-up testing service did not operate. the state planned to move the drive-up testing to the denver coliseum, starting on march 14, subject to weather. the testing at the coliseum would service a maximum of 150 patients. the colorado department of public health and environment (cdphe) also planned to move the drive-up service to strategic locations as warranted. in aspen, 10 australian ski vacationers were confirmed with the virus, with three others refusing testing. the three australians who refused testing were quarantined for two weeks. michael larson, of crested butte, in gunnison county, owner of mikey's pizza died from covid-19, on march 13, 2020. his test for the coronavirus was done post-mortem, and received back on march 23, making his death the first in gunnison county, and also one of the earliest in colorado. on march 14, the state legislature went into recess for two weeks. governor jared polis issued an executive order to close downhill ski areas for a week, doing so "with a profound sense of pain and grim responsibility." some ski areas had already planned to close on march 15. on march 16, denver mayor hancock ordered all bars and restaurants to close by 8 a.m. on march 17 (except for food delivery and pickup) and banned gatherings of more than 50 people. governor jared polis expanded the closures by ordering a state-wide closure of dine-in services, gyms, casinos, and theaters. on march 18, governor jared polis closed schools until april 17 and banned gatherings of more than 10 people for the following 30 days. polis also ordered ski resorts to remain closed until april 6. the governor also expressed frustration with nonchalance regarding social distancing and announced the creation of a fund to aid coloradans affected by covid-19. san miguel county became the first county in the nation to plan to test all of its residents. it also ordered residents to "shelter-in-place." gun sales skyrocket in colorado, along with toilet paper, and hand sanitizer. empty toilet paper shelves during the covid-19 pandemic at the walmart in aurora on march 19, colorado reported two more covid-19-related deaths, one of which was a man related to colorado's first death. governor jared polis extended the closure of bars, restaurants, theaters, gymnasiums and casinos until april 30 and suspended all nonessential medical procedures. the governor also ordered the closure of "nonessential" businesses until april 30, which include nail salons, spas, and tattoo parlors. on march 21, rocky mountain national park closed after the mayor of estes park cited concerns about the novel coronavirus. on march 23, aytu bioscience, a pharmaceutical company in colorado, announced that it developed a blood test that will deliver results in two to ten minutes at the point of care for antibodies for the covid-19 virus. the fda has now approved the test for distribution. denver mayor hancock announced a "stay at home" order for denver county. this was to go into effect on tuesday march 24 at 5pm. on march 24, thirteen colorado counties and multiple cities had announced some form of the stay-at-home order, including adams county, arapahoe county, archuleta county, boulder county, broomfield county, denver county, douglas county, eagle county, grand county, jefferson county, la plata county, pitkin county, and san miguel county. on march 25, governor jared polis put the state of colorado in complete lock-down, with a stay-at-home order. this started on thursday march 26 at 6:00 a.m., and was scheduled to last through april 11. mesa verde national park closed. on march 26 mike willis, colorado's director of emergency management, had a new coronavirus testing program, after receiving 5,000 test kits and expecting another 2,500. new locations will be set up to test the first responders and health workers. colorado parks and wildlife will be closing all facilities, including camping at colorado's state parks and state wildlife areas until further notice. on march 27 governor jared polis said that he is working to add 5,000 icu beds to colorado's capacity by the end of the summer and is in conversations to bring more ventilators to the state to treat sick covid-19 patients. the 8pm denver howl is started by folks in a neighborhood near the now closed denver botanic gardens and denver zoo. on march 28, governor jared polis announced that the white house had approved his request to declare a major disaster for colorado. the status means the state is eligible to receive additional federal resources and funding to help address the pandemic. the new york post named gunnison county, at 454.20 per 100,000 people and eagle county at 331.74 per 100,000 as being two of the top four counties leading the nation in confirmed cases outside of new york and louisiana. the other two counties are blaine county, idaho and summit county, utah. they state that this will no doubt overwhelm local hospitals. andy larson of the salt lake tribune did some math based on factual reporting, and put gunnison county, colorado third in the country for cases per capita. he listed eagle county as eighth. on march 29, cdot, colorado department of transportation, suspended the bustang and outrider through at least april 11. on march 31, gunnison county announced they will begin working with a company called biobot, to test fecal samples from the sewer system, to track coronavirus. the county will collect samples and send them back to biobot which can produce results in about three days. the tests will help measure the scope of the outbreak in the county and track the impact of interventions, such as social distancing. it could also act as an early warning system for a re-emergence of cases. colorado doctors are turning to telemedicine, to keep people out of the hospitals or ers where their chance at the infection of covid-19 is higher. many health insurance companies will pay the doctors the same rate for a virtual visit as in-person. previously, insurance companies only paid about half as much. also, medicare may waive co-payments on these visits, making a virtual visit an affordable way to maintain the spread of infection. the demand for guns in colorado continues to rise amid the covid-19 pandemic. despite the cbi strongly encouraging firearm dealers to hold firearms until the background checks are completed, gun shops are considered essential businesses under the state's stay-at-home order and are classified as "critical retail," along with grocery stores, gas stations, marijuana dispensaries, liquor stores, and several other businesses. mike wills, director of the state's office of emergency management, said that budweiser events center could serve as a temporary hospital as colorado prepares for the coronavirus surge. at the end of march, the united states air force academy in colorado springs eased some of its social distancing measures for its on-campus cadets, after two seniors committed suicide there in the prior week. earlier strict efforts to isolate and separate cadets had provoked complaints. april 2020 line for a supermarket in denver on april 1, guidelines for patient prioritizing are made, with 3,342 cases, and 620 people hospitalized with covid-19, doctors could be forced to decide which patients to treat. about the new guideline, dr. matthew wynia, director of the center for bioethics and humanities at the cu anschutz medical campus said, "this is statewide guidance on how to do triage in the most ethically defensible way," projections that colorado will hit its peak of covid-19 cases on april 17, at which time there could be a shortage of nearly 2,000 hospital beds and nearly 500 intensive care unit beds even with the present preventive measures being taken, there are new efforts that could close that gap. on april 3, governor jared polis asked coloradans to wear non-medical, cloth face masks when going out. on april 5, colorado officials set guidelines for deciding who gets care in case of coronavirus surge. based on a four-tier system, the comprehensive 22-page document will prevent health care workers from making decisions about care based on gender, sexual orientation, race, religion, and other non-health related factors. the document states that decisions should not be made based on a person's status or position. colorado sees significant declines in air pollution due to a decline in driving during coronavirus outbreak. on april 6, colorado's mountain communities are dealing with high altitude issues concerning coronavirus. by moving their patients to lower altitudes, they hope that their patients will need less supplemental oxygen. dr. jason hogan, an emergency medicine physician at gunnison valley health, has started transporting patients from gunnison, at an altitude of 7,700 feet, to montrose at 5,800 feet, and grand junction at 4,500 feet, to help with the significant amount of oxygen they need. vail health hospital's chief medical officer, dr. barry hammaker, said they are transporting patients to denver and grand junction. due to the high skier/tourist population, colorado mountain communities became hotspots for the new coronavirus early on in the pandemic, resulting in the closure of ski resorts and requests for tourists to return home. governor jared polis in a special address extends the stay-at-home order