{"id":50368,"date":"2020-11-19T00:22:45","date_gmt":"2020-11-19T07:22:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/colorado-governor-unveils-coronavirus-restrictions-aimed-at-preventing-lockdowns\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T03:50:58","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T09:50:58","slug":"colorado-governor-unveils-coronavirus-restrictions-aimed-at-preventing-lockdowns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/colorado-governor-unveils-coronavirus-restrictions-aimed-at-preventing-lockdowns\/","title":{"rendered":"Colorado governor unveils coronavirus restrictions aimed at preventing lockdowns"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Jesse
Jesse Paul,\/The Colorado SunGov. Jared Polis walks into a news conference on Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2020, to announce new coronavirus restrictions in Colorado.<\/span>du1-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Gov. Jared Polis announced new coronavirus restrictions Tuesday aimed \u2013 at least temporarily \u2013 at preventing about half of Colorado\u2019s counties from being forced into lockdown as COVID-19 sickens more people and fills more hospital beds each day.<\/p>\n

The new mandates are intended to give counties with a worsening COVID-19 situation another chance to improve before returning to an all-out stay-at-home order as the Democrat issued in the spring.<\/p>\n

Coronavirus is running so rampant in many counties \u2013 including Denver, Adams and Jefferson \u2013 that they should already be locked down under metrics defining the state\u2019s old dial system. Roughly half of the state\u2019s counties Tuesday morning were teetering on the edge of having such bad rates of coronavirus cases and hospitalizations that they would meet the criteria for a lockdown.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe clearly need a more drastic shift in behavior,\u201d a somber Polis said at a news conference at the governor\u2019s mansion in downtown Denver where he announced the new restrictions. \u201cAbsent intervention, it just keeps getting worse.\u201d<\/p>\n

Polis changed the state\u2019s dial system to make the red level \u2013 which used to be the point at which counties were forced to lock down \u2013 less severe. He hopes that will prevent \u201ceven more devastating or drastic steps, like a lockdown or shutdown.\u201d<\/p>\n

The biggest change for counties at that level is that they must now shutter indoor dining and that personal gatherings are completely outlawed. Counties at the red level are not, however, required to fully lock down. Retail businesses and offices may remain open.<\/p>\n

Other restrictions for counties at the red level include:<\/p>\n

A restriction on alcohol sales at restaurants and bars after 8 p.m. <\/em>A reduction in capacity for gyms to 10% from 25%, with a limit on 10 total people down from 25<\/em>A ban on indoor events<\/em>Colleges, universities and K-12 schools are allowed to remain open, though the state recommends they shift to online learning except for students in fifth grade and below.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday night, the state released a list of 15 counties that will be placed under the red level on Friday:<\/p>\n

Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Clear Creek, Denver, Douglas, Jefferson, La Plata, Logan, Mesa, Morgan, Routt, Summit, Washington.<\/p>\n

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment says a new level \u2013 purple \u2013 will be added to the bottom of the dial for counties facing an even worse coronavirus situation. That becomes the new lockdown level.<\/p>\n

The changes to the dial will be effective on Friday, CDPHE said. The state on Tuesday night released an updated public health order outlining the changes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have great confidence this path will succeed,\u201d Polis said. \u201cIt\u2019s not a given.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cIf we didn\u2019t have cause to believe that this would work, then we wouldn\u2019t be taking this step.\u201d<\/p>\n

Denver Mayor Michael Hancock, who was also at Tuesday\u2019s news conference with Polis, asked people to follow the new rules to prevent further restrictions from being enacted.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we\u2019re going to reverse the trend, we must move now with additional measures before more drastic steps have to be taken,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m calling on Denver and the metro region to step up like we\u2019ve done before to push back mightily on this virus and get back under control. The blunt-force response of another stay-at-home order can be avoided.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hancock urged Denverites to stay at home as much as possible and put social gatherings on hold for the time being.<\/p>\n

Polis and local officials have resisted the idea of issuing new lockdown orders for weeks, fearful, mainly, of economic fallout. Instead, they\u2019ve been pleading with the public to adhere to mask-wearing restrictions and social-distancing guidelines.<\/p>\n

Recently, Coloradans have even been urged \u2013 and required in some places, including Denver \u2013 to cancel plans with people outside of their households.<\/p>\n

None of those requests or last-ditch mandates, however, have been effective, and Polis was forced last week to prepare in earnest for hospital capacity to be surpassed in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n

\"Kathryn
Kathryn Scott\/ Special to The Colorado Sun With an outdoor mask mandate in the city of Denver, the majority of visitors to shops and restaurants along W. 32nd Ave. in the Highlands neighborhood are abiding by the rule on November 7, 2020 in Denver.<\/span>du1-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

As of Tuesday morning, more than 1,300 Coloradans were hospitalized because of the coronavirus \u2013 by far the highest number since the pandemic began. The state\u2019s seven-day average daily case count has surpassed 4,000, another record. Colorado\u2019s test positivity rate average over the past week is 12.61%, well above the 5% level considered acceptable by the World Health Organization.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo I expect these case numbers to be dropping in the next week?\u201d Dr. Eric France, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment\u2019s chief medical officer, said on Thursday. \u201cI don\u2019t know that they will.\u201d<\/p>\n

Governor, legislative leaders make special session official<\/div>\n

Also on Tuesday, Polis confirmed that he will call a special session of the Colorado legislature, urging lawmakers to swiftly pass bills that can help people weather the economic effects of the new restrictions. He said the state has been forced to act in lieu of new federal relief.<\/p>\n

Polis said he hopes the legislation will \u201cbridge us to the vaccine.\u201d<\/p>\n

The governor said the details of the special session are still being ironed out, but that they are expected to be finalized before the end of the week. His aim is to provide north of $200 million in relief, which he recognizes won\u2019t come close to matching congressional aid.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe cannot possibly do what the federal government can do,\u201d Polis said. \u201cWe can\u2019t do an economy-wide (Paycheck Protection Program). We can\u2019t do a $1,200 assistance to every Coloradan. But none of that is an excuse for us not to do what we can to ease the pain and difficulty of small businesses and the people of Colorado.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among the topics state lawmakers are expected to tackle are:<\/p>\n

Small business relief in the form of delayed tax payments and direct emergency assistance.<\/p>\n

Housing and rental aid.<\/em>Child care support.<\/em>Expanded broadband access.<\/em>\u201cOur states recovery could hinge on the next few months,\u201d said Colorado House Speaker-designate Alec Garnett, a Denver Democrat. \u201cTargeting relief now to those small businesses and those hardworking families will have the greatest multiplying effect for our local economies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Garnett says lawmakers plan to use tax revenues the state wasn\u2019t expecting to pour in to cover the stimulus\u2019 costs.<\/p>\n

Garnett said some people may ask why the legislature can\u2019t just wait until it returns for its regular session on Jan. 13 to take action.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrankly,\u201d he said, \u201cJanuary will be too late.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Under old dial systems, many counties would be locked down<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":50369,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[233,28],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-50368","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-coloradosun-com","tag-headlines"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50368","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50368"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50368\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":87731,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50368\/revisions\/87731"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50369"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50368"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50368"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50368"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=50368"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}