{"id":52808,"date":"2020-07-09T20:05:56","date_gmt":"2020-07-10T02:05:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/frustrated-by-rise-in-covid-19-cases-colorado-governor-says-wear-a-damn-mask\/"},"modified":"2020-07-10T02:05:56","modified_gmt":"2020-07-10T02:05:56","slug":"frustrated-by-rise-in-covid-19-cases-colorado-governor-says-wear-a-damn-mask","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/frustrated-by-rise-in-covid-19-cases-colorado-governor-says-wear-a-damn-mask\/","title":{"rendered":"Frustrated by rise in COVID-19 cases, Colorado governor says, \u2018Wear a damn mask!\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Colorado
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said in a news conference Thursday that Coloradans \u201cneed to be more responsible\u201d by wearing a mask and avoiding large gatherings.<\/span>David Zalubowski\/Associated Press file<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

As the number of COVID-19 cases in Colorado grows, state leaders and health agencies are ramping up their efforts to educate the public about the importance of wearing a mask and avoiding large gatherings of people.<\/p>\n

Gov. Jared Polis announced the launch of a new interactive COVID-19 model<\/a> of the state of Colorado during a news conference Thursday. The model was developed by the Colorado School of Public Health to help individuals, businesses and local governments visualize their own role in stopping the spread of COVID-19 across the state.<\/p>\n

Coloradans can use the model to see how different factors, such as wearing a mask, can change the spread of COVID-19 in Colorado in the future.<\/p>\n

The state health department announced 452 new cases of COVID-19 in Colorado. Almost 60% of the state has a mask ordinance in place, and the governor\u2019s office estimates that 70% of Colorado residents wear a mask when they need to. But for Polis, it \u201cain\u2019t enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you want to lower the unemployment rate and bring professional sports back, wear a mask,\u201d Polis said.<\/p>\n

Masks are more effective than originally projected despite the lack of a coordinated effort to enforce masks in the Untied States, Polis said. While he doesn\u2019t have the power to enforce masks at the state or national level, Polis said he can\u2019t make it any more clear how important it is.<\/p>\n

\u201cWear a damn mask,\u201d Polis yelled, while leaning over a lectern.<\/p>\n

The Colorado COVID-19 model will help people understand the impact they can have at the individual level.<\/p>\n

With the new model, users can alter the parameters to see what would happen if 20-year-olds didn\u2019t wear masks, or what would happen if people 65 and above did not stay home or avoid gatherings.<\/p>\n

The tool also includes up-to-date data on the state\u2019s efforts to trace contact between people who have the virus.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to live with the president and the administration we have,\u201d Polis said, calling out President Donald Trump\u2019s lack of leadership in unifying states to combat the virus.<\/p>\n

Colorado\u2019s economic recovery is only as good as its public health response, Polis said. The main transmission point for the virus was bars, which the state closed again one week ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it\u2019s not enough to save your family and friends\u2019 lives, it\u2019s also an economic issue,\u201d Polis said.<\/p>\n

He pointed to a new study from Goldman Sachs that shows if everyone wore a mask nationwide, it would save 5% of the national GDP, which is about a trillion dollars of economic activity.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the summer of no parties,\u201d Polis said.<\/p>\n

He called on people in their 20s and 30s, as well as in their teens, to \u201cgo to the park with four friends\u201d instead.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re 17, you shouldn\u2019t be drinking anyway,\u201d Polis said.<\/p>\n

Next phase of reopening<\/div>\n

Polis signed the Protect Our Neighbors Executive Order on Thursday, which directs the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to allow local governments to apply to enter into the next phase of reopening \u2013 Protect Our Neighbors.<\/p>\n

To qualify, the county must submit a containment and mitigation plan for what it would do if cases started to rise again.<\/p>\n

Polis also announced that the federal government extended the application period for the Paycheck Protection Program until Aug. 8, as there is $129 billion remaining that can be used as forgivable loans for small businesses that need aid.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur country still hasn\u2019t gotten out of the first wave,\u201d Polis said.<\/p>\n

ehayes@durangoherald.com<\/a> <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Colorado\u2019s surge raises questions about individual responsibility<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":52809,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[685,819,28,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-52808","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-coronavirus-covid-19","tag-gov-jared-polis","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52808","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=52808"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52808\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52809"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52808"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52808"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52808"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=52808"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}