State's Coronavirus Dial Set To End: Jefferson County Issues Plan

JEFFERSON COUNTY, CO — Jefferson County issued a new public health order that will replace Colorado's COVID-19 Dial 3.0 when it expires Friday.

The county will continue with a variation of the statewide dial, Jefferson County Public Health said.

The county, which is currently under Level Yellow, will shift back to Level Blue Friday under Phase 1 of the county's new plan.

Level Blue business capacity restrictions:

• 100 percent indoors at restaurants, with 6 feet of spacing between groups; last call is 2 a.m.
• Bars can operate at 25 percent capacity or 75 people, whichever is fewer; last call is 2 a.m.
• 75 percent at offices and retail
• 100 percent at gyms/fitness centers with 6 feet of distancing
• 50 percent personal services and limited health care settings
• 50 person capacity per activity for group sports and camps

Jefferson County Public Health released the following overview of its plan:

• Phase 1 – Moving Toward a Full Reopening (April 16 to May 15): Businesses and individuals can operate under Dial 3.0’s Level Blue capacity limits and simplified mitigation requirements for 30 days. There will be no movement during this 30-day period. Review the order for specific mitigation requirements and capacity limits for businesses and activities.
• Phase 2 – Observation Period (May 16-August 15): Jefferson County, along with other Metro Denver counties, will move to a new Level on the Dial — Level Clear — which has no restrictions. In Level Clear, businesses will operate at 100 percent capacity with no mitigation requirements, although indoor mask requirements may still apply. During the observation period, rather than focusing on incidence rates or test positivity rates, JCPH will closely monitor hospitalizations, a health metric indicative of severity of COVID-19 infections. It is expected that by late May vaccination coverage should be sufficient to control COVID-19 transmission in Jeffco. However, if needed, JCPH can apply capacity limits based on hospitalization rates as described in the order.

Under the new order, the county's Five-Star Certification Program for businesses will be suspended, officials said. Businesses that have been certified must operate under Level Blue capacity limits.

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The county's mask order will remain in effect — everyone must continue to wear a mask in indoor public spaces when 6 feet of social distancing can't be maintained, public health officials said.

Jefferson County coronavirus rates have gone up in April, the latest data shows. Between April 5 and April 11, there were 891 new cases.

“It’s too soon to completely abandon all COVID-19 transmission prevention measures," said Dr. Dawn Comstock, executive director of Jefferson County Public Health, in a statement.

"Jeffco residents who are not yet vaccinated are still at risk and should continue to Be COVID Smart. However, we can now chart a sound path forward combining these proven COVID-19 mitigation strategies, our own local Jeffco data and a deep knowledge of our community’s unique needs.

“We’re confident this collaborative approach across the Denver Metro Area, in tandem with a unified race to get more people vaccinated, will help us avoid a fourth surge during this critical time. If we can work together and be patient just a bit longer, we may now only be about one month away from the finish line.”

Jeffco public health officials worked closely with other health leaders throughout Denver's metro area to "determine how to best move forward," Comstock said in a statement.

“We are confident this brief phased approach will allow our community to work to get our recent increase in COVID-19 transmission back under control, while we race to quickly vaccinate as many people as we can and prevent another surge driven by more-contagious variants," the statement read.

"At the same time, our local businesses can better plan for the near future.”