DENVER -- The number of new confirmed influenza cases in Colorado declined by half in the latest reporting period, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment reported Monday.

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The agency reported 1,579 confirmed flu cases over the seven-day period ending Sunday. That compares with 2,913 over the previous seven-day reporting period and brings the total number of confirmed flu cases in the state this season to 9,179.

"We are continuing to see evidence that we are on the downside of the curve for the number of new flu cases being reported," said Douglas H. Benevento, the executive director of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. "The average number of daily cases being reported is declining."

Because of the decline in flu cases, the health department will begin updating flu case numbers only on Mondays, instead of twice a week as it had been doing.

The Colorado Department of Public Health has confirmed that 11 children have died of the flu but hasn't released any data on elderly flu deaths.

The department has been asked to aggressively track children's cases by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention so doctors and emergency rooms have been reporting any flu-related deaths in children. However, the only way the department will find out about adult deaths is when it is reported as a cause of death on death certificates. It could take about three months before the department receives such information, spokeswoman Lori Maldonado said.