Colo. loosens COVID restrictions across most of state
Colorado’s health department moved 26 counties to the lowest level on the state’s color-coded COVID-19 dial Wednesday, eliminating most public health restrictions in those less-populated areas now at Level Green — including all caps on dining capacity at restaurants.
The “Dial 3.0” changes that took effect Wednesday also remove all limits statewide on the size of personal gatherings. And they allow bars to reopen, at limited capacity, for the first time since last summer in counties at Level Blue, which, in the metro area, include Jefferson and Arapahoe. Last call for alcohol in those counties returns to 2 a.m., as well.
Furthermore, restaurants and gyms in Level Blue counties can operate at 100% capacity as long as they maintain 6 feet of distance between parties, though state officials concede that distancing requirement “will be a limiting factor for most indoor spaces.”
Restaurants and gyms with 5 Star state certification in counties at Level Yellow — those include Denver, Douglas, Boulder and Adams — also can resume operating at 100% capacity, provided they can meet that 6-foot distancing requirement.
The change allowing restaurants to operate at 100% capacity in Level Blue and for 5-Star businesses in Level Yellow came after industry representatives lobbied Gov. Jared Polis on Sunday, said Chris Fuselier, the owner of the Blake Street Tavern in Denver. Last week’s draft plan of the dial changes only allowed those businesses to move to 60% capacity from 50%.
Fuselier acknowledged that most restaurants won’t be able to meet the distancing requirement. Even at 18,000 square feet, he said the Blake Street Tavern will now be able to seat 350 people out of his full 800-person capacity. Still, the 100% allowance is important, he said.
“It’s all about perception, and when you say that we’re allowed 100%, that means that we can take anybody in unless we have a 6-feet distancing issue,” Fuselier said. “Perception means so much to us right now because, for the last year, restaurants have been portrayed as not a safe place to go to.”
As recently as last month, public health experts stressed to The Denver Post that restaurants remain “high risk” settings for COVID-19 transmission, and two members of Polis’s coronavirus modeling team wrote an oped published by the newspaper late last year arguing restaurants should remain closed to indoor dining.
Mask changes TBD
Changes have not yet been made to the statewide mask mandate, which expires April 3, because officials still are reviewing public input on the plan released last week to lift nearly all requirements for facial coverings in counties at Level Green, according to the health department.
The easing of restrictions was expected as the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment announced Friday evening that it would make it easier for counties to move to Level Green on the dial, which has been used by the agency to set COVID-19 restrictions in communities based on local transmission of the coronavirus.
The revised dial is expected to remain in place until mid-april, after which the state will retire it and issue a new public health order handing most control over Covid-related restrictions to local public health agencies.
“Coloradans have made great sacrifices to protect ourselves and our communities from COVID-19 over the past year,” said Jill Hunsaker Ryan, executive director of the health department in a statement. “While this is still a time for caution, these changes to the dial better reflect where we are in the pandemic today, and the balance we are trying to strike between disease suppression and economic hardship.”
Counties going green
The counties that moved to Level Green are: Moffat, Rio Blanco, Jackson, Delta, Gunnison, Ouray, Dolores, San Juan, Hinsdale, Saguache, Rio Grande, Conejos, Costilla, Huerfano, Custer, Clear Creek, Gilpin, Lincoln, Kit Carson, Cheyenne, Kiowa, Bent, Prowers, Baca, Phillips and Sedgwick.
Two counties — Crowley and Otero — already were at
Level Green, which now places no state restrictions on restaurant, of fice, gym, retail, personal ser vices or outdoor event capacity.
For counties at Level Green, the only remaining restrictions are on bars, indoor group sports and camps, and indoor seated or unseated events, all of which are capped at 50% of capacity or 500 people, whichever is fewer.
Under the proposal introduced by the state last week, the dial changes were to be followed by a modified mask order from the governor on April 4 that, in counties at Level Green, would only require masks be worn at schools by children ages 11 to 18 because they do not yet have access to vaccines.
For counties at Levels Blue, Yellow, Orange and Red, the proposal said masks would be required for that same group of students and in any indoor public places with 10 or more people present. The existing statewide mask mandate would remain in effect in any counties reaching Level Purple, the highest phase.
State officials, in announcing Wednesday’s changes, said feedback received about the proposed mask changes will be considered before the current order expires and any decision is made on a subsequent modified order.
“COVID-19 still presents risks to healthy Coloradans, so ever yone should continue to take precautions until the vaccine becomes widely available and used,” the health agency said in a news release.
Increased vaccinations
The Department of Public Health and Environment previously said it was making the changes to the dial because of the progress the state has made in vaccinating Coloradans against the coronavirus. To date, 894,526 people are fully immunized in the state.
But Colorado also has seen its months-long decline in COVID-19 hospitalizations stall and an increase in the number of cases involving the more contagious variants of the coronavirus.
In fact, Jef ferson County — one of only two in the metro area at Level Blue — announced Wednesday that it’s on the verge of being moved back to Level Yellow due to increased virus transmission.
“We are happy to see the state’s path for helping counties ease back into more normalcy and the activities we love. We’re all looking for these signs of progress and hope,” said Dr. Dawn Comstock, executive director of Jefferson County Public Health, in a statement. “Unfortunately, the reality is we need to see much more improvement in Jef fco before we can fully take advantage of the loosened restrictions. On the same day the state released the new Dial 3.0, Jef ferson County exceeded the seven-day COVID-19 case incidence rate limit and buffer allowance for Level Blue.”
On Tuesday, Dr. Anthony Fauci encouraged Americans to keep public health measures in place or else risk seeing another rise in infections as is occurring in Europe, according to PBS Newshour. Those measures include wearing masks, physically distancing and avoiding large gatherings.