El Paso County COVID-19 case count over 6 times higher than springtime

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- As El Paso County leaders grapple with a stark rise in COVID-19 cases, county public health data show coronavirus cases in the county are over six times higher than it was under stay-at-home orders from March to May.

Stay-at-home orders lasted nearly two months in El Paso County until a variance was approved by the state to reopen restaurant dining rooms on May 24.

KRDO analyzed the COVID-19 data of those 59 days of those restrictions and compared it to the most recent data in the same amount of time.

March 26 - May 24 COVID-19 data

• 1399 positive COVID-19 cases
• 188 hospitalizations for COVID-19
• 70 deaths

El Paso County's highest hospitalizations in a day were 13, and the highest death count was 4 in the nearly two-month period.

Our look at El Paso County's COVID-19 data found the highest positive case count in the last two months is 12.5 times higher than the county's highest coronavirus case count during the stay-at-home orders from March to May.

The highest daily positive case count in the springtime stay-at-home period was 57 cases, compared to 717 positive COVID-19 cases in the county reported by public health leaders on November 3.

September 12 - November 10 COVID data

• 8733 positive COVID-19 cases
• 289 hospitalizations for COVID-19
• 47 deaths

The death rate among COVID-19 positive patients decreased by nearly a third since the stay-at-home order lifted compared to the fall. However, the county public health data shows those 70 and older were at-most-risk for COVID-19 deaths in both time periods.