DENVER | Colorado switched Saturday to a new, less restrictive COVID-19 safety dial, moving both Adams and Arapahoe County from the orange “high risk” level to the yellow “concern” level.
Gov. Jared Polis announced the change at a Friday afternoon news conference, saying this dial is meant to be more responsive and is tied to vaccine distribution.
The changes in “dial 2.0” include:
- Quicker moves between levels. To move down a level, a county must meet all the level’s requirements for one week.
- The state health department will move counties up a level based on COVID-19 incidence rates, or if they have testing or a strain on hospital supply. Mitigation plans will not be required before the change.
- In level yellow, businesses can have 50% capacity or 150 people present (up from 100).
- Additional metrics for counties under 30,000 people will be considered.
- Counties in the five-star business program will only be able to be in the blue level once 70% of its 70 and older population has been vaccinated.
The new dial went into effect 9 a.m. Saturday, and shifted Aurora and regional counties down one level.
One more version of the dial will be introduced several months from now, Polis said. He acknowledged the frustration that many Coloradans have had with the system but said that for now, it is still necessary.
“I wake up every morning saying can we abolish the dial yet,” he said.
Statewide, COVID-19 trends have been steady, said Jill Hunsacker Ryan, director of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. It has been in the ten lowest states for virus transmission for the past several weeks, and its positivity rate is currently 4.41%.
Adams County currently has a 14-day incidence rate of 306 per 100,000 people and Arapahoe County 336, according to the Tri-County Health Department.
Colorado has now distributed over half a million first vaccine doses, and 179,000 second doses, Polis said. It is 64% of the way to its goal of vaccinating 70% of seniors 70 and up by the end of the month, and beginning Monday those 65-69 will be eligible. He asked people to be patient as the state continues its vaccine rollout.
Of course.