DENVER – Governor Jared Polis said on Thursday that bringing back indoor restaurants led to his decision to ask state health officials to move Denver and other major counties from the red level on the state’s COVID-19 to the orange level.
“There are ways to have a reasonably safe dining experience,” Polis told Denver7 in an interview on Thursday morning.
Changing counties from Red Level to Orange Level would allow returning to indoor meals in restaurants, which was banned for weeks at Red Level. The Orange Level would still require internal capacity limits of 25% for restaurants.
Polis’ request, which he posted on social media on Wednesday night, would ease restrictions in 33 Colorado counties currently at the Red Level. Polis cited a reduction in COVID-19 cases and an improvement in ICU capacity across the state.
“Throughout this pandemic, we had to walk a difficult line between the public health crisis and the economic crisis,” said Polis in the dawn post. “When reviewing today’s data, Colorado has been on a sustained decline for 13 days and only 73% of ICU beds across the state are in use.”
Two weeks ago, Dr. Jonathan Samet, dean of the Colorado School of Public Health who leads the state’s data modeling team, co-authored an article in The Denver Post with Elizabeth Carlton, associate professor at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, arguing against indoor meals.
“Study after study, restaurants are related to the spread of the coronavirus,” wrote Samet and Carlton. “The evidence comes from scientific studies that investigate the sources of outbreaks, the impact of policies and the recent activities of those infected.”
Their article acknowledged that keeping restaurants closed closed will be “devastating” for restaurants, but “it will help us survive the pandemic”.
“We will ensure that restaurants also have the support they need to survive,” wrote Samet and Carlton.
Still, on Thursday, Dr. Jill Hunsaker Ryan, executive director of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, said: “The 13-day decline in the number of cases is a strong indication that we are moving in the direction Coloradanos have succeeded in slowing down the spread and we need them to continue to follow public health protocols – how to continue to interact only with those they live with, especially during the holiday. “
“In general, countries restricted to the red level have reduced viral transmission to a point where we can provide economic relief and move them to the orange level, recognizing the fact that economic difficulties also cause poorer health outcomes,” he said. Ryan. “We plan to work with local public health agencies on the next steps. Counties can always establish more restrictive orders than the state, if they choose.”
When asked on Thursday whether he was on the same page as the CDPHE, Polis said the decision to move from Red Level to Orange Level would be a “regional decision”, meaning that if a county on the Denver subway moves for Orange, others are likely to do the same.
The move to Orange Level could happen as early as next week, said Polis.
Denver health officials said on Thursday that the move to Orange Level would include Denver County and was a sign that the numbers “were in the right direction”. Denver will move to Orange Level on Monday.
Arapahoe County announced on Thursday that it would move to Orange Level, following the governor’s request. Adams County later announced that it would also move to Orange Level, starting on Monday. Broomfield also joined the list of counties that announced they would move to Orange Level on Monday.