MORE COUNTIES CAN REOPEN — IN LIMITED WAY
Health dept. OKS variances, with limitations
Teller, Douglas, Larimer and Eagle counties are among those who have received the green light from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment for more businesses to reopen on a limited bases. Those receiving permission range from restaurants to libraries.
A host of Colorado counties were given the green light Friday and Saturday to reopen more businesses — albeit with limited capacities and social distancing measures in place.
Teller, Douglas, Larimer and
Eagle counties all received variances from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment on permissions ranging from restaurants and malls to bowling alleys and libraries.
The approvals come as 21 counties — nearly a third of Colorado — have been given some type of exemption from the state’s saferat-home mandate. These exemptions have varied from highly selective requests, such as Denver reopening the Botanic Gardens, to more widespread variances in Eagle County that include summer camps and short-term rentals.
Douglas County restaurants, houses of worship, gyms and the Park Meadows mall will be allowed to open with fewer people, according to a letter of approval from state public health officials.
In the letter to Douglas County commissioners, Jill Hunsaker Ryan, executive director of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, approved their request to reopen and noted several conditions to the variance.
For indoor spaces, there is a 50% occupancy cap and a maximum of 175 people. In addition, no gatherings will be permitted at
Park Meadows and instead shoppers are encouraged to move from one store to the next without congregating in the public areas.
Safer-at-home restrictions could be put back into place if cases spike in the area, Hunsaker Ryan warned.
“If any two of the county’s triggers of a 20% increase in positive cases in 3-day rolling average over a 14-day period, more than 100 new cases per 100,000 people in two weeks, a substantial increase in hospitalizations directly related to COVID-19 over a 2-week period, or the inability of TCHD to contact trace new cases within 24 hours of a known positive test result occurs, then this variance is automatically rescinded.”
News of the counties being granted permission to reopen businesses comes the same day Colorado state health officials reported 1,327 people have died with the novel coronavirus in their system, though there were no additional deaths tied directly to the virus. There’s a lag in reporting deaths to the state health department — particularly deathcertificate data.
Nearly 24,000 people across the state have tested positive for
COVID-19, though public health officials have cautioned that number is likely several times higher.
In addition to Douglas County, Eagle County received a variance allowing it to open hotels, shortterm rentals and restaurants to out-of-town visitors, while gatherings of up to 50 people will also be approved.
Larimer County on Saturday was approved to open indoor malls, restaurants and campgrounds, along with gyms, pools, libraries and bowling alleys.
In Teller County, gyms, restaurants and movie theaters will be allowed to open at limited capacity, though the Colorado Department of Public and Environment did not grant the county’s wish to open casinos and bars. The Board of Douglas County Commissioners on Friday celebrated the reopening of county businesses.
“We are especially grateful to the citizens of Douglas County for adhering to the behaviors that led to the favorable public health data that supported this outcome,” Roger Partridge, the county’s board chair, said on Douglas County’s website.
Gov. Jared Polis has said that he will issue guidance for statewide restaurant re-openings by Memorial Day.