Colorado Coronavirus Update: 3,891 New Cases Reported In 24 Hours

Between Friday afternoon and Saturday afternoon, 3,891 new cases of the coronavirus were reported in Colorado, according to public health data.

Gov. Jared Polis has tested positive for the coronavirus, his office announced Saturday night.

As of Friday, 220,953 people had been infected with the coronavirus in the state among 1,707,374 people who have been tested since the outbreak began, health officials confirmed. Around 13,280 people have been hospitalized, and the death toll has reached 2,521.

“Right now, Coloradans are more likely to contract the virus than ever before," Polis said in a statement released Tuesday.

"Scientists estimate 1 in 41 Coloradans are contagious right now so if you have even 10 people at a gathering, you face nearly a 1 in 4 chance that someone will be contagious," the governor said.

“We must listen to scientists and leaders like Dr. [Anthony] Fauci who recommend that you only socialize only with members of your immediate household, wear a mask, and stand six feet from others when you have to leave your home,” Polis said.

Around 49 percent of the state's critical care ventilators were in use as of Friday, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

If coronavirus rates continue at rates seen over the past few weeks, intensive care unit bed capacity will be exceeded in January, said Dr. Rachel Herlihy, the state's top epidemiologist.

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"On the current trajectory, we may experience 6,600 deaths by the end of the year — and more, if distancing is reduced over the holidays," the governor's office said in a news release.

"Colorado is also starting to approach nearly double the number of daily hospitalizations reported than we did in the Spring. More people in Colorado are hospitalized due to COVID-19 than ever before."

As of Friday, 36 percent of Colorado hospitals reported anticipating staff shortages over the next week. Around 12 percent of hospitals reported anticipating ICU bed shortages in the next week.

Polis on Monday issued an executive order that allows the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to prevent hospitals that have reached capacity from taking in new patients. The new order aims to help hospitals respond to climbing coronavirus case rates.

Under the order, when a hospital reaches capacity, it's required to notify the state agency, which can then order the hospital to stop taking new patients and transfer them to other area hospitals.

The order requires hospitals to stabilize any patients before they are transferred, officials said.