Curbs could loosen soon

Jefferson County moves to Level Blue, can increase capacity

Jefferson County will loosen its COVID-19 restrictions — allowing restaurants and event spaces to increase their capacities — starting Friday morning, but Denver will have to wait after new coronavirus cases ticked up in the city again this week.

Denver is at Level Yellow, the third stage on the state’s dial framework of public health restrictions. To move down to Level Blue under the relaxed standards announced in late January, the city would have to average fewer than 100 new COVID-19 cases for every 100,000 people, per day, for a week.

The city flirted with that line in the days after Valentine’s Day, but cases rebounded slightly in recent days, according to data from the Denver Department of Public Health and Environment. As of Wednesday, Denver’s average was 104.5 cases per 100,000 people.

Mayor Michael Hancock said Denver is “very close” to moving into Level Blue, which he described as a step toward revitaliz

ing its arts and sports scenes. He urged residents to continue wearing masks and avoiding large gatherings, to help keep new cases down.

“We are going to get there, ultimately, very soon,” he said during a news briefing Thursday. “We control our destiny.”

Half of Colorado’s 64 counties are in Level Blue, although most of the metro area remains at Level Yellow. Broomfield moved to Level Blue on Monday, and Clear Creek and Park counties will join Jeffco in making that move Friday morning.

Jeffco officials announced Thursday that the county had 91.1 new COVID-19 infections per 100,000 residents from Feb. 17 to 23.

“While the move to Level Blue is a positive step, and one we can all feel hopeful about, if we don’t continue to operate cautiously we could quickly lose the ground we have gained,” Dr. Dawn Comstock, executive director of Jefferson County Public Health, said in a statement. “The virus is still out there, and we still need to take steps to protect ourselves, our loved ones and our community. We should look at Level Blue not as a ‘free for all’ but rather a step in the right direction.”

Under Level Blue, most businesses can operate at half of their capacity, with a cap of 175 people in large restaurants, gyms and indoor events. Counties also can apply to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment for “variances” that allow specific venues and activities to operate under different precautions.

Statewide, new COVID19 cases and hospitalizations largely have flattened in recent weeks, and it’s not entirely clear why, said Dr. Eric France, chief medical officer at the state health department. It’s possible there could be a resurgence in late March or April if more-contagious variants of the coronavirus spread widely, but at this point those account for relatively few cases, he said.

“That variant spread is very rare now and not really visible,” he said.

State health officials reaffirmed that they could open COVID-19 vaccinations to essential workers and people with two or more chronic health conditions in early March but declined to give more details.

The state health department has started planning for multiple scenarios, including a possible increase in the vaccine supply if the Food and Drug Administration issues an emergency use authorization for Johnson & Johnson’s one-dose vaccine, said Kate McIntire, deputy director of the state vaccine task force.

Denver continues to lobby for more control over distributing the vaccine, said Bob McDonald, executive director of the city’s health department. The state sets the priorities for distributing the vaccine, but Denver is trying to make the process more equitable by setting up ongoing vaccine clinics at recreation centers and nonprofits in hard-hit neighborhoods, while continuing to use mobile units and support existing clinics, he said.

“The limiting factor right now is access to vaccine” doses, he said.