- Driven by a pair of super-transmissible omicron sub variants, more people are catching COVID-19, and key coronavirus trends are heading in the wrong direction in Colorado. But immunity from vaccinations and previous infections will help the state weather the wave.
- The bill had been heavily lobbied and one of the session's most high-profile and closely watched bills.
- As governments drop masking and contact tracing, public health experts worry Colorado and the U.S. may be flying blind.
- The bill is up against a ticking clock, more than 140 lobbyists and opposition from Gov. Jared Polis and some lawmakers.
- Lawmakers with personal stories of how flavored tobacco, particularly menthol, is marketed to Black communities and parents trying to keep kids off nicotine. One the other is Polis’ view that it’s a local issue — and tied to funding his universal pre-K plan — and vape shop owners who want to stay in business.
- The current fight to ban flavored tobacco products is at the statehouse, but the debate has its roots in local politics.
- There's an uptick in COVID-19 trends, but the peak is expected to be considerably lower than previous ones.
- Lawmakers are debating whether to ban menthol cigarettes, flavored vapes and similar products. It's an issue that's pulled in tons of lobbying money and is causing some deep divisions between usual political allies.
- COVID-19 hospitalizations in Colorado dipped to a low of 77 on Wednesday. That's down from the previous week, and nearly 1,600 from the peak of the omicron wave in January.
- The number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients in Colorado fell this week below 100 for the first time in the pandemic.
- About 30 percent of Colorado's eligible population are still missing their third COVID shot, to be fully vaccinated and boosted.
- The number of Coloradans now hospitalized with COVID-19 is at its lowest point in two years, but experts are still keeping a close eye on variants.
- The strain is known as the COVID-19 BA.2 variant — some call it “stealth Omicron.” The Denver Department of Public Health & Environment (DDPHE), said for now, it's not concerned about a surge in cases as seen with previous variants, based on current data and projections from federal and state health agencies.
- It’s a Wednesday and Dr. Shen Nagel, a pediatrician, is at work. “How’s he doing?” he asks with a bright smile, as he leans in to talk to a mom at Nagel’s clinic in Wheat Ridge, Pediatrics West. “Good. He’s a really happy baby,” says Lea Green as she cradles 4-month-old Knox.
- Transmission, cases, hospitalizations have all been dropping to levels not seen since last summer, and so are many restrictions and recommendations on things like masks.
- For the first time since the state started collecting COVID-19 data, the number of reported cases dropped below 100.
