DENVER – Gov. Jared Polis said Thursday that bringing back indoor dining drove its decision to ask state health officials to move Denver and other major counties from Level Red on the state’s COVID-19 dial to Level Orange.
“There are ways to have a fairly safe dining experience indoors,” Polis told Denver7 in an interview Thursday morning.
Moving counties from Level Red to Level Orange would allow a return to indoor dining in restaurants, which has been banned under Level Red for weeks. Level Orange would still require 25% indoor capacity restrictions for restaurants.
Polis’s request, which he posted to social media on Wednesday evening, would lower restrictions in 33 counties in Colorado that currently fall on Level Red. Polis cited a decrease in COVID-19 cases and an improvement in statewide ICU capacity.
“During this pandemic, we have had to walk a difficult line between the public health crisis and the economic crisis,” Polis said in the late-night post. “Looking at today’s data, Colorado has been in a steady decline for 13 days and only 73% of statewide IC beds are in use.”
Two weeks ago, Dr. Jonathan Samet, the dean of the Colorado School of Public Health who heads the state’s data modeling team, along with Elizabeth Carlton, associate professor at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical, wrote an op-ed in The Denver Post. Campus, which objects to eating indoors.
“In study after study, restaurants are linked to the spread of the coronavirus,” wrote Samet and Carlton. “The evidence comes from scientific studies examining the sources of outbreaks, the impact of policies and recent activities of infected people.”
Their op-ed acknowledged that keeping indoor dining closed will be “devastating” for restaurants, but “will help us survive the pandemic.”
“Let’s make sure the restaurants also get the support they need to survive,” wrote Samet and Carlton.
Still, Dr. Jill Hunsaker Ryan, executive director of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Thursday: “The 13-day drop in cases is a strong indication that we are heading in the right direction. Coloradans have managed to slow the spread, and we need them to continue to follow public health protocols – such as continuing to communicate only with those they live with, especially during the holidays. ”
“In general, countries that are limited in level red have reduced viral transmission to a point where we can provide economic relief and move them to level orange, recognizing that economic setbacks are also causing worse health outcomes,” Ryan said. “We plan to work with local public health authorities on the next steps. Provinces can always impose stricter orders than the state if they so choose.”
When asked on Thursday if he was on the same page as the CDPHE, Polis said the decision to move from Level Red to Level Orange would be a “ regional call, ” meaning if a county on the metro from Denver to Orange moves, others probably will. the same.
The switch to Level Orange could happen next week, Polis said.
Denver health officials said Thursday the move to Level Orange would include Denver County and was a sign of numbers “in the right direction.” Denver moves to Level Orange on Monday.
Arapahoe County announced on Thursday that it would move to Level Orange, at the request of the governor. Adams County later announced that it would also move to Level Orange from Monday. Broomfield also joined the list of counties that announced it would move to Level Orange on Monday.