DENVER — Colorado health officials confirmed another 148 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, as the state continues to see hospitalizations for the respiratory disease COVID-19 decline.

Gov. Jared Polis said he is concerned about a potential increase in infections that could result from recent racial justice protests throughout the state. Neighboring states, including Arizona and Utah, are seeing their coronavirus cases increase.

“I think it is likely there will be some transmission, it’s almost a certainty there was some transmission at those large gatherings,” he said during a press briefing Thursday. “What we don’t know is, is it tens of people or hundreds of cases that arise from people who weren’t able to avoid the physical proximity as they participated in those.”

There are 28,647 people confirmed to have the novel coronavirus, up from 28,499 individuals. Hospitalizations for the disease declined by 14 people, going from 182 individuals to 168, according to the latest data from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

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