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KUNC is here to keep you up-to-date on the news about COVID-19 — the disease caused by the novel coronavirus — Colorado's response to its spread in our state and its impact on Coloradans.

Colorado surpasses 10,000 deaths from COVID-19

A billboard with the images of the six employees who died of COVID-19 while employed at the JBS meatpacking plant stands across from the plant along Highway 85, Monday, Oct. 12, 2020, north of Greeley, Colorado.
David Zalubowski
/
AP
A billboard with the images of the six employees who died of COVID-19 while employed at the JBS meatpacking plant stands across from the plant along Highway 85, Monday, Oct. 12, 2020, north of Greeley, Colorado.

State health officials say more than 10,000 people have died from COVID-19 in Colorado.

The grim milestone comes on the one-year anniversary of the first shipment of the Pfizer vaccine arriving in Colorado and about 21 months into the pandemic, The Denver Post reported Tuesday. It also comes on the same day the U.S. death toll from COVID-19 topped 800,000.

As of Tuesday afternoon, 10,018 people had died from COVID-19 in Colorado, according to state health officials. The number includes only those instances in which the virus was ruled to be one of the causes of death, and which occurred in-state.

Between 200 and 300 of those deaths may have been residents of other states who were transferred to Colorado hospitals and died there.

The vast majority of those still dying from COVID-19 are unvaccinated, although some people with immune systems weakened by health conditions or age have died from the virus despite getting inoculated.

Despite the increasing death toll, Colorado has experienced less loss of life than most states.

The latest data available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed the state had the ninth-lowest rate of deaths compared to population in the country, with about 167 for every 100,000 people.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved.