Denver residents are now required to wear masks when outdoors with others for the foreseeable future, and will need to put off gatherings involving more than a handful of friends until at least mid-November.
Mayor Michael Hancock and Bob McDonald, executive director of the city’s Department of Public Health and Environment, on Friday announced two new public health orders expanding the requirements for facial coverings and further limiting gathering sizes in an effort to rein in the increasing spread of COVID-19.
Hours later, the Tri-County Health Department issued its own orders limiting gathering sizes in Adams and Arapahoe counties and moving up last call at restaurants. The Adams County order also prohibits spectators at high school sporting events and adult recreational and league sports.
State health officials have described Colorado as being in a “third wave” of COVID-19, following the initial surge of the virus in March and April and a second spike in July. Colorado recorded more than 1,000 new coronavirus cases a day three times this week, setting a record high with 1,096 new infections identified on Thursday.
As of Thursday, Denver averaged 265 new coronavirus cases for every 100,000 residents over the previous two weeks, McDonald said. That’s more than three times the rate of new cases in early September — and higher even than Denver’s peak during the early wave of the pandemic.
The city’s test positivity rate also is approaching 5%, which could trigger more restrictive rules from the state, he said.
“Right now we need to do more,” Hancock said during a morning news conference.
Denver’s mask order, which currently requires face coverings in indoor public settings, now applies to the outdoors as well, with some exceptions. If people are outdoors alone, or with members of their household, they do not need to wear masks, McDonald said.
Masks also will not be required for participants in organized athletics, including professional, college and intramural leagues, because those teams are required to have plans to control the virus, he said.
The new mask rules are effective immediately and are to remain in place indefinitely, officials said.
The second order reduces the number of unrelated people allowed to gather together to five from 10. That’s in effect until Nov. 16. Households with more than five members can gather together, but can’t invite any guests, McDonald said. Smaller households can gather with others, so long as the total doesn’t exceed five — for example, a family of four could meet with one friend, he said.
McDonald advised workplaces not already operating under specific public health guidelines to consider having employees work remotely. Meetings count as a gathering and are limited to no more than five people, he said. Classrooms, restaurants and other settings following industry-specific public health rules are exempt from the five-person limit.
Technically, two groups of five could keep six feet of distance and talk without violating the order, but it’s better to wait a month to gather, because efforts to maintain distance in larger groups haven’t been effective, McDonald said.
“Now is not the time for large groups of people to convene and try to stay apart,” he said.
The Adams County order prohibits spectators at all sporting events sanctioned by the Colorado High School Sports Association, and limits organized recreational and youth sports to 25 people per field, including spectators. Coaches and referees are excluded form the 25-person cap.
Adams County also will now limit personal indoor gatherings to no more than five people, and outdoor gatherings to no more than 10 people — though the limits don’t apply to people living in the same household, or life rite ceremonies.
For both Adams and Arapahoe counties, last call for alcohol at restaurants is being moved up earlier in the evening: 10 p.m. for Adams County and 11 p.m. for Arapahoe County.
The Arapahoe County order also urged businesses to allow more remote work. Under Arapahoe County’s new gathering restrictions, no more than 10 people can congregate. Previously, the county allowed up to 25 people at personal gatherings.
Tri-County Health Department reported contact tracers were identifying an increasing number of cases linked to informal gatherings, and workplace outbreaks have increased. Arapahoe County had an average of 193 new cases per 100,000 people in recent weeks. Adams County’s new cases are even higher, at 313 per 100,000 residents.
The new restrictions for both Adams and Arapahoe counties run through Nov. 1.
“I know it gets old and that everyone has COVID fatigue, but there is strong reason to believe that infection could further spread and hospitalizations increase as we move further into the fall and winter,” said Dr. John Douglas, executive director of the Tri-County Health Department, which serves Adams, Arapahoe and Douglas counties. “There will be light at the end of the tunnel as new vaccines become available, and we just cannot let our guard down yet.”
Jefferson County public health officials also warned residents to remain focused on fighting the spread of the virus or face tighter restrictions as cases there rise, too.
“We have been carrying the weight of this pandemic for much longer than we expected,” said Christine Billings, Head of Jefferson County Public Health’s Office of Pandemic Response. “But the virus is still circulating, and we can’t give up now. We must dig deep and work together as a community to slow the spread.”
The increase in COVID-19 cases has raised concerns about hospital capacity heading into the holidays as the state’s test positivity rate surpassed the key 5% benchmark.
As of Friday, 352 people were hospitalized in Colorado with COVID-19, the highest number since May 27, though far from the levels reached during the pandemic’s early wave in April. Seventy-eight percent of the state’s 1,863 intensive care unit beds were in use Thursday, though the state does not track how many of those are coronavirus patients.
Gov. Jared Polis gave no sign he was considering a statewide order like Denver’s at a news conference Friday, but asked the public to put off gatherings. While hospitals are able to handle the current number of patients, that could change if the virus continues to spread at its current rate.
“We could be in trouble in a few weeks or in the next month,” he said. “We need to get this under control now.”
If the number of cases and the positivity rate continues to grow, Denver may have to reduce the number of people allowed in businesses at once, threatening the survival of many restaurants, Hancock said. Continued spread also could make it unsafe to gather for Thanksgiving, he said.
“We must take these additional steps over the next 30 days, and do what’s needed now so we can enjoy the holidays with our families,” he said.
