1 in 4 COVID hospitalizations are not due to COVID - FOX 31 Denver

DENVER (KDVR) — The data is tricky to gather, but the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment estimates about one in four people hospitalized with COVID are not there due to COVID.

Rachel Herlihy said in an interview the state’s COVID hospitalizations are split three to one, but that the data is too complex to make it onto the state’s COVID dashboard.

“Those data are readily available [for deaths],” Herlihy said.

“Those estimates have been variable over time,” Herlihy said, “but about 75% of people with COVID-19 infections in hospitals in the state of Colorado are there because of COVID-19.”.

Currently, there are 952 hospitalized persons in Colorado who have either confirmed or suspected COVID-19 infections.

This is as many people as were hospitalized during the first week of January.

“Certifying a death is a very different process than diagnosing a patient in a hospital,” Herlihy said.

Unlike death data, though, the hospitalization data isn’t available in real time.

While death statistics are immediately available, the process to figure out COVID infections takes more time.