Boulder County Coronavirus Update: 126 New Cases Confirmed

BOULDER COUNTY, CO — Over the past week, 126 new cases of the coronavirus have been confirmed in Boulder County, according to public health data. In comparison, the previous week — ending July 9, only 71 new cases were reported.

As of Thursday, 1,618 people in the county had tested positive for the virus since the outbreak began. The death toll has reached 74.

Around 622 people have recovered and 179 have been hospitalized since the outbreak began, according to Boulder County Public Health. More than 22,000 people have been tested in the county.

The agency released the following municipal breakdown of case numbers in the county, which include both probable and confirmed cases as of Thursday:

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Longmont has the highest rate of cases per 100,000 people — 601.1, followed by Boulder (569.2) and Lafayette (442.1).

>> View the full Boulder County data report here.

There were 25 new coronavirus cases reported in Boulder County Monday— the highest one-day new case increase since the spike in mid-June, which was linked primarily to large gatherings, health officials said.

Until Monday, there had been a "steady plateau" of new cases, averaging 12 to 13 per day, according to Boulder County Public Health. Before the spike in mid-June, there were only about five new positive tests among Boulder County residents reported each day.

The increase on Monday does not appear to be associated with college students — fewer than 25 percent of the reported cases were confirmed to be college students, health officials said.

Carol Helwig, the county's Communicable Disease Control program manager, called the trends "highly concerning."

"We are seeing an explosion of new cases in many of the states around Colorado," Helwig said. "If we want to avoid going backwards, every single one of us needs to do what we can: Stay home if you can, and if you must go out, please be very diligent about social distancing, wearing a face covering, and washing your hands."

Gov. Jared Polis issued an executive order Thursday that mandates Coloradans wear masks when they are in all indoor public spaces. The announcement was made amid growing pressure from many Colorado business owners and lawmakers to issue a statewide face covering mandate. The mask order, which applies to everyone over 10 years old, went into effect at midnight.

Over the past week, more than 3,200 new COVID-19 cases have been reported in Colorado.

As of Thursday, 38,726 people have been infected with the coronavirus in our state among 421,313 people who have been tested since the outbreak began, health officials confirmed. Around 5,966 people have been hospitalized, and the death toll has reached 1,615.