As Colorado was confirming more than 10,000 cases of COVID-19 and a total of 449 fatalities, Governor Jared Polis announced that retail stores will be allowed to offer ‘curbside pickup’ beginning on April 27, and will be able to open their doors to serve “limited numbers” of in-store customers on May 1, so long as they have social-distancing policies in place.
The governor made the announcement at a news conference yesterday, April 20.
Personal service providers, including hair salons, dentist offices and tattoo shops, will be able to reopen on April 27 if they abide by certain precautions, such as hair stylists wearing masks. One-on-one real estate showings will be allowed. Company offices will be allowed to open with no more that 50% of staff on the premises, with the remainder — especially older workers — telecommuting.
Restaurants and bars might be allowed to open in mid-May, he suggested.
While the stay-at-home order successfully created about 75% to 80% social distancing in Colorado, Gov. Polis said, Colorado will need to maintain about 65% social distancing for several months to avoid overwhelming the health care system.
“It is a marathon, not a sprint. We are going to have to live with coronavirus for a while…”
The Denver Post yesterday quoted Jill Hunsaker-Ryan, executive director of the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment, as saying, “Our North Star is that the number of people needing an ICU bed is lower than the number of beds available.” She said public officials will monitor the situation as the economy begins to re-open, and if the number of cases appears to be rising too fast, the state could impose restrictions… again.
From the Denver Post:
The state is increasing coronavirus testing at long-term care facilities this week across the Front Range, with new sites opening up Sunday at facilities in El Paso, Adams and Broomfield counties. Three hundred tests will be provided this week at Pikes Peak Center, Elms Haven Center and Broomfield Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center.
Yet the supply chain for testing components remains “unpredictable,” Hunsaker-Ryan said, so the state can’t quickly identify infected people and tell them and their contacts to isolate themselves. There’s also a shortage of epidemiologists to interview infected people and track those they could have exposed.
“We simply were not built for this,” she said. “The disease transmission is still too high for this to be our main strategy.”
But even as the governor was describing a strategy for re-opening the commercial sector, his administration announced that Colorado schools will be closed for the rest of the school year.
“During this phase Coloradans will no longer be ordered to stay home, but are still strongly encouraged to do so. Vulnerable populations and seniors must continue staying home except when absolutely necessary and K-12 school districts and postsecondary institutions will continue to suspend normal in-person instruction until the end of the school year,” a press release from the governor’s office said.
“We support Gov. Polis’ difficult, yet necessary decision to close schools for the remainder of the 2019-20 academic school year due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak,” said Amie Baca-Oehlert, president of the Colorado Education Association. “Many school districts had already made the prudent decision to cancel in-person learning for the remainder of the school year so this announcement is not unexpected. Still, it is crushing news to know with finality that we will not see the daily gathering of students and educators in these wonderful places of learning and inspiration, our public schools.
“Although our 39,000 members very much miss being with their students, we appreciate that this decision was made with the utmost concern for the health, safety and well-being of Colorado’s students and educators. At this time, the public health risk is far too great for our students and educators to return to school.
“Colorado’s educators are committed to finishing the school year strong and we remain focused on making distance learning a success for our students through the remainder of the school year. Distance learning isn’t a direct replacement for the effectiveness of in-person learning and we know many of our students and families are missing the critical services that our public schools provide.
“Together, we will get through this unprecedented disruption to ensure that every student thrives. We are committed to doing all that we can to comply with the safety measures in hopes that our schools will reopen in the fall and we can do what we do best, educate Colorado’s children.”