Pitkin County to return to COVID-19 limits at the Orange level at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, according to a daily epidemiological report and news item distributed Monday afternoon.
Among other changes, the update will allow restaurants to restore in-house dining and lift the red level ban on in-person meetings.
“The 14-day incidence of the county has fallen below 700 cases per 100,000 people since this morning,” the report said Monday. “Restrictions on the red level will be lifted from tomorrow.”
A rapidly declining incidence allows Pitkin County health officials to ease restrictions barely two weeks after Red-level restrictions took effect in Pitkin County on January 17; the Board of Health voted for the red level on the state’s COVID-19 dial on Jan.11.
As of Monday afternoon, the county had an incidence of 642 cases per 100,000 people over a 14-day period, according to the report prepared by the public health department.
“It is excellent news that our incidence has been reduced and that companies will be able to operate with greater capabilities,” said Greg Poschman, Pitkin County Commissioner and Vice Chairman of the Board of Health in a press release. “However, this is not the time to let our guard down. It’s not over yet and despite this decline, things are expected to get worse before they get better. Let’s protect our community by being smart. We must continue to comply with the five obligations of containment and avoid closed spaces, crowded places and close contacts. This is what we all need to do to keep our community open until vaccines are more widely available. “
The announcement of Orange-level restrictions is good news for local businesses that will benefit from relaxed restrictions and Aspen Mayor Torre and Snowmass Village Mayor Bill Madsen, who both sought to get the Board of Health to revert to Orange restrictions level in Pitkin County at a Jan. 28 rally.
Torre and Madsen lacked votes from other board members to lift the restrictions on the Red level, but their efforts will nevertheless be realized on Tuesday. Interim director of public health Jordana Sabella had hinted at the meeting last Thursday about the possibility of a return to Orange.
Restaurants can again offer indoor dining with a 25% capacity following the Orange level guidelines, with the last call at 10pm. Restrictions on the red level are set on the last call until 8pm, and indoor dining is prohibited, which is a challenge for restaurants with limited outdoor space. Also, the 10-person party hat is not limited by household requirements.
The Pitkin County Restaurant Alliance will analyze how the return to the Orange-level restrictions will affect a lawsuit the organization filed last month to overturn the Board of Health’s Red Order, the group’s attorney said. Chris Bryan. A district judge scheduled the hearing for February 19.
Gyms and fitness centers can return to 25% capacity (previously limited to 10%); Personal Services will continue to operate at 25% capacity and retail will continue to operate at 50% capacity with increased roadside collection and delivery.
Companies can also apply to participate in the Pitkin County 5-Star State Certification Program, which grants site-specific derogations from the public health order to institutions implementing a comprehensive list of additional COVID-19 safety measures.
Informal gatherings – prohibited under the Red-level restrictions – are also allowed with up to 10 people from two different households.
An incidence of less than 700 and 14 consecutive days of deterioration was the road to Orange-level restrictions. The Health Council approved the benchmark at its January 11 meeting – the previous Red level threshold was 350 – allowing the county to ease restrictions as long as the two other measures of coronavirus restrictions (positivity rate and hospital admission rate) do not also hit Red level thresholds.
The province would have to have an incidence rate of over 700 (or two of the three stats must reach Red-level thresholds in one day for 14 consecutive days) to be bumped back against Red.
The Board of Health set those statistics on Jan. 11 because any incidence of more than 700 cases per 100,000 people exceeds the public health department’s contact-tracking capability. Ensuring that exposed contacts are tested and quarantined through contact tracking is an important part of the province’s ‘box it in’ strategy to contain viruses.
The drop in incidence occurred much faster than officials had predicted, but narrowly missed the limit for Orange-level restrictions on Sunday, when the incidence was recorded as 732 in the daily epidemiology report.. Monday’s report updated the incidence to 777 on Jan. 31.
Monday’s incidence of 642, indicating that one in 156 people in Pitkin County tested positive for COVID-19 over a 14-day period.
That’s just a fraction of the incidence on January 17, the day the Red level restrictions took effect. The incidence on January 17 was 2,759; one in 36 people in Pitkin County had tested positive for COVID-19 in the past two weeks, according to an epidemiological report dated Jan. 30.
Pitkin County registered 8-11 days of declining or stable hospitalizations according to the state data dashboard and a 14-day positivity rate of 5.3% according to Monday’s epidemiology report. Both metrics are within the yellow level on the state’s corona meter.
The lower positivity rate is another good sign: Of those who want to test, fewer actually test positive for COVID-19. At the same time, the decline in both metrics – positivity rate and incidence – indicates a lower risk of community transmission.