Coronavirus cases and hospitalizations are up slightly in El Paso County, driven by the presence of more infectious subvariants, but they’re nowhere near the numbers seen in January at the height of the omicron variant’s transmission, Public Health officials said. 

As of Wednesday the county had seen 2,816 COVID-19 cases and 41 hospitalizations so far in May, up from the 1,231 cases and 23 hospitalizations in April, said Fadi Youkhana, an epidemiologist with El Paso County Public Health. But those numbers pale compared to the nearly 43,000 cases and 852 hospitalizations the county had in January.

Across Colorado, there were 1,557 cases as of Monday, according to the most recent Department of Public Health and Environment data, or about 28 cases per 100,000 residents over seven days. That’s a fraction of the more than 15,700 cases — about 272 cases per 100,000 people over seven days — the state recorded on Jan. 16.

Data on Wednesday showed 163 patients are hospitalized statewide with confirmed cases of COVID-19. That’s compared to the 1,676 Coloradans hospitalized at the height of omicron this winter, but still a jump up from the 77 hospitalizations reported statewide April 12, which was the lowest number in two years.

UCHealth is currently treating 56 COVID-19 patients across its 12 hospitals statewide, spokeswoman Kelli Christensen said. 

Centura Health, which operates Penrose-St. Francis Health Services, has seen a “slight increase” in recent hospitalizations, said Dr. Michael Roshon, vice president of physician residencies and research operations at Centura Health and an emergency physician at Penrose-St. Francis. He did not provide specific hospitalization numbers. 

Colorado health officials said last week the state will see weeks of increasing COVID-19 numbers as omicron subvariants BA.2 and BA.2.12.1 remain dominant . However, they expect the latest wave’s peak to be significantly below those seen in January and November, when the omicron and delta variants, respectively, were at their heights.

Neither Roshon nor Dr. Michelle Barron, senior medical director of infection prevention and control for UCHealth, said they were concerned about the slight increase in hospital numbers, but encouraged Coloradans to protect themselves against COVID-19, because it is still dangerous for high-risk patients: the elderly and immunocompromised, as well as those with obesity, diabetes, or heart or lung disease.

Roshon and Barron said their respective hospital systems were seeing limited amounts of monoclonal antibody supply. Some of the initial monoclonal antibodies are no longer effective against the changing virus, Roshon said.

Both hospital systems are reserving their monoclonal antibody treatments for patients who are high risk, Roshon and Barron said. Demand for the treatment at Centura Health facilities has overall been “much lower” compared to six months ago, Roshon said.

A state health spokeswoman said Wednesday Colorado has “ample supply of COVID-19 treatments.” Its supply of monoclonal antibody treatments is tied to its transmission level, she said. Each week, the state receives about 350 doses of Bebtelovimab, an injectable monoclonal antibody therapy. On average, about 25% of those doses are reported as administered.

There are about 1,900 doses of Bebtelovimab now in provider offices or pharmacies statewide, the spokeswoman said.  

More COVID-19 treatment options are available now, including oral antiviral medications Paxlovid or molnupirovir. They’re comparable treatments to monoclonal antibodies and are easier to obtain, Roshon and Barron said.

El Paso County Public Health is also monitoring additional communicable diseases, like monkeypox and hepatitis in children, county Medical Director Dr. Chris Urbina said Wednesday.

An outbreak this month identified monkeypox in 12 European countries, the United States, Australia, Canada and Israel. Monkeypox is a zoonotic disease endemic in central and western Africa and does not occur naturally in many countries including the United States, Urbina said. The virus produces similar but milder symptoms than smallpox, such as fever, headache, chills, exhaustion and others, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC on Wednesday reported on its website one U.S. resident, in Massachusetts, tested positive on May 18 for monkeypox after returning from Canada. No additional monkeypox cases have been identified in the United States, according to the CDC.

The county is also watching hepatitis cases of unknown cause among children. Since November, 13 juvenile hepatitis cases have been identified in Colorado. None have been identified in El Paso County, Urbina said. It is likely caused by adenovirus, a common virus that usually causes mild cold- or flu-like illness. State public health officials are still investigating the cause, Urbina said.

Coronavirus case numbers and hospitalizations are far below what El Paso County and the state saw at the height of the omicron variant’s transmission in the winter, public health officials say. But they are up slightly over data recorded in April, driven by more infectious subvariants. 

Jerilee Bennett, Gazette file