'In This For The Long Haul': Gov. Jared Polis Talks About Timeline For Colorado During Coronavirus
DENVER (CBS4)- Gov. Jared Polis talked about some new data and what life will likely look like for the next several months during the coronavirus pandemic in Colorado. Polis addressed those concerns during a news conference on Wednesday afternoon.
"We're in this for the long haul, we know that the virus isn't going to disappear or go away anytime soon," said Polis.
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"As we reopen our state, things are going to work differently than the way they did before," said Polis.
He said that we have to develop a way of life where people can continue to work and conduct activities while still protecting themselves and others from COVID-19.
As of Wednesday afternoon, there have been 357 deaths from coronavirus in Colorado with 8,280 cases in 56 counties. Out of those, 1,636 are hospitalized and 40,533 people tested. Polis said the public health threat of this virus right now is severe.
"We need to create a way that we can live that is psychologically, economically and emotionally stable," said Polis.
Polis also talked about how good Coloradans are at staying home. He reiterated the need for people to continue to stay home except when absolutely necessary, "This is the most important tool we have."
"We want to dispel any notion that we can go back to the way things were in January or February," said Polis.
He said he hoped the coronavirus has moved back its peak and that until we have a widely available vaccine or treatment or immunity, coronavirus will be part of our lives and we will need to live with it.
"We are in the urgent phase and we all need to stay at home," said Polis.
He said we will go from the urgent phase, which we are in now, to the stabilization phase that includes social distancing measures and then finally recovery when large group gatherings will once again be commonplace in Colorado.
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That could mean social distancing measures for the next two to three months, perhaps even longer.
Urgent Phase:
- Suppress virus growth
- Understand true cases
- Expand testing and tracing capacity
- Expand health care capacity
- Determine the cost-benefit of individual social distancing policies
Stabilization Phase:
- Increase testing, contact tracing, quarantining, isolating
- Ongoing public education on hygiene and social distancing
- Ban large gatherings
- Dynamic changes based on data
- Achieve maximum benefit at lowest cost
Recovery Phase:
- Build population level immunity or treatment approach
- Lift all restrictions and get back to our Colorado way of life
- Monitor for outbreaks
Polis also talked about the vaccine testing measures around the world and that all those efforts are being accelerated by scientists who are also working on a cure.
About The Colorado Stay-At-Home Order
Colorado's stay-at-home order amid the coronavirus outbreak went into effect on the morning of March 26 and it is currently set to expire on April 26.
