Invoking themes of redemption and new beginnings, Gov. Jared Polis on Wednesday urged Coloradans to avoid large gatherings as they celebrate the upcoming Passover, Easter and Ramadan holidays — just hours before state health officials announced 14 more deaths related to the novel coronavirus.

At least 1,162 people now have been hospitalized with COVID-19, the highly infectious respiratory illness causes by the virus, with total positive cases across Colorado exceeding 5,600. There have also now been 48 outbreaks at residential and non-hospital health care facilities.

Colorado has confirmed 193 deaths from complications of the new coronavirus, including the state’s first person in their 20s to die of the disease. That comes the same day Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction announced one of its students, 21-year-old Cody Lyster, died from the virus.

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The state health department announces daily totals of new coronavirus deaths based on what’s reported up from Colorado’s counties; though the deaths may be announced on a particular day, they may have occurred any time in the past and are just now being reported to the state.

Lyster played club baseball and was pursuing a degree in criminal justice, CMU President Tim Foster wrote in a letter to families. He died in Arapahoe County, where he had contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19, Mesa County Public Health said in a news release.

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