Positive test for Aurora’s mayor

Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman said Sunday that he tested positive for COVID- 19 and will quarantine until he is free of the virus.

The news prompted Gov. Jared Polis — who was with the mayor on Oct. 15 — to consider quarantining, but state health officials on Sunday determined there was no need for him to do so. State health officials found “there is no risk to Gov. Polis of being exposed to COVID- 19 from Mayor Coffman,” spokesman Conor Cahill said in a statement.

The two appeared together at an Oct. 15 news conference; everyone present wore masks when they weren’t speaking and kept socially distanced.

Coffman suffered only mild symptoms, he said on Twitter.

“I came home from work late Thursday morning not feeling well, but I thought I had just a very mild cold with a cough,” he wrote Sunday. “Not taking any chances, I cleared my schedule to work from home until I could get tested just to make sure I didn’t have COVID- 19.”

Coffman said he got tested with a rapid test on Saturday — after his symptoms had cleared — intending to go back to work Monday once he received negative results.

“Unfortunately the results of the test were positive,” he wrote. “I will have to quarantine from home.”

The mayor’s illness comes as novel coronavirus cases are on the rise in Colorado and in Aurora.

Tri- County Health Department on Friday announced it was increasing restrictions on businesses and residents — moving the county from a Level 2 alert to a Level 3 alert — because of “skyrocketing” cases in Adams County. Under the state’s guidelines, Level 3 restrictions are the tightest restrictions before stay- at- home orders are imposed.

The new restrictions will start Wednesday at 5 p. m., the agency said in a statement, and include limiting gathering to no more than 10 people from no more than two households, restricting retail and restaurants to operating at 25% posted occupancy, and closing gyms and recreation centers, among other restrictions.