Coronavirus Update In Lakewood: 102 New Cases Reported

LAKEWOOD, CO — Over the past two weeks, 102 new coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Lakewood, according to Jefferson County Public Health data. Since the beginning of August, the city has seen a decrease in the number of bi-weekly cases reported.

As of Wednesday, there have been 1,746 cases in Lakewood since the outbreak began. The rate of infection per 1,000 residents in the city is 11.16, the data shows.

There have been 5,009 cases and 242 deaths in Jefferson County since the outbreak began, health officials confirmed.

Around 4,555 people have recovered in Jeffco and 19 people were hospitalized as of Wednesday.

Number of Jeffco cases in surrounding municipalities:

Don't miss the latest coronavirus updates from health and government officials in Lakewood: Free Newsletters and Email Alerts | Facebook | Twitter

Between July 5 and July 18, 486 cases were confirmed in Jefferson County, and the state warned Jeffco officials that they were at risk of losing the variance. But since then, coronavirus case rates have gone down in the county, public health data shows.

When the county's first variance request was approved in early June, officials were given a threshold limit of 580 cases for a two-week period.

"We are hopeful that — as long as cases continue to decline or stabilize — we may be able to hold on to our Jefferson County variance," county officials said in mid-August.

A variance is a leniency granted to businesses and churches that eases restrictions if the county proves that cases are under a certain level. If Jeffco loses its variance, some businesses would be forced to scale back their services, and others may have to close. The current variance allows more lenient capacity limits for group gatherings, event centers, places of worship, malls, brewpubs, distilleries and other venues.

Over the past week, 2,496 new cases have been reported in Colorado. The state has seen a small uptick in cases over the past two weeks.

As of Wednesday, 59,920 people have been infected with the coronavirus in Colorado among 756,298 people who have been tested since the outbreak began, health officials confirmed. Around 7,173 people have been hospitalized, and the death toll has reached 1,882.