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Coronavirus In Colorado: Public Health Departments Issue Stay At Home Orders For More Than 2 Million

ADAMS COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4)- The Tri-County Health Department, along with Jefferson County Public Health and Boulder County Public Health, issued a stay-at-home order during a news conference on Wednesday morning. That order is set to take effect at 8 a.m. on Thursday, March 26.

The Tri-County Health Department consists of Adams, Arapahoe and Douglas Counties.

The stay-at-home order pertains to more than 2 million people living in the Denver metro area. The order will remain in place until April 17.

"There is widespread transmission of COVID-19 in the Metro Denver area, and we must take bold actions to stop the spread of this virus," said John M. Douglas, Jr., MD, executive director of Tri-County Health Department said in a statement. "With each passing day, we run a growing risk of greater transmission and illness and quickly overwhelming our hospitals, which are really a resource for our entire region and state. When this happens, not everyone may get the care they need. It's a real possibility in Colorado — and a situation which has already occurred in countries such as Italy — and which is threatening to happen in major U.S. cities in other areas of our country. We understand the toll that measures to address the pandemic are having on our communities, and we want to reassure residents that this step is temporary, and a critical one to get us closer to recovery."

RELATED: Coronavirus Update: Denver Answers Questions About Stay-At-Home Order

Denver's mayor announced the stay-at-home order on Monday that went into effect at 5 p.m. Tuesday for the City and County of Denver.

This order is in addition to the recently issued public health order for social distancing ordered by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

The stay-at-home order requires that all people in each county stay at their place of residence and only leave to conduct essential activities like buying groceries, prescriptions or engaging in other outdoor activities like walking or hiking, while maintaining a safe distance.

Prohibited activities include public or private gatherings of any size with people outside your residence, traveling except to get or provide essential services or carpooling with anyone outside your residence.

"Scientific evidence shows that we must act now, at this stage of the COVID-19 emergency, in order to save lives in the long-run. It will give us the time we need to test comprehensively and to slow the spread of the virus to prevent our health care system from being overwhelmed," said Jeff Zayach, Boulder County Public Health executive director, in a statement.

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