Health Officials Announce 10 p.m. Curfew For Adams County Starting Saturday
ADAMS COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) - The Tri-County Health Department announced a new public health order on Friday for Adams County. The order includes a curfew, which goes into effect at 10 p.m. on Saturday and lasts 30 days.
"We do believe household to household mixing as the rates get high is one of our problems. Adams County is going up by leaps and bounds every day. An extraordinarily alarming way," said Dr. John Douglas, the Tri-County Health Executive Director.
Officials issued the new order in response to the recent increase in COVID-19 cases. The curfew requires everyone in the county except essential workers to be off public streets from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.
Last call at bars will also be 10 p.m., spectators are not allowed at sporting events, restaurants will be limited in capacity and only able to seat six people from two households. The health department and the county are also encouraging telework, or working remotely.
"It might allow the county to dodge the bullet because when we go to full Stay at Home, there is a whole lot more shut down involved in it," said Douglas.
"This new order is really a 5-alarm call to action, like an evacuation in the face of a wildfire," said Douglas. "The restrictions might seem uncomfortable, but we believe that they are one of our last best hopes to slow the spread of COVID-19 in our community without the necessity of Adams County moving to the Stay at Home orders that we had in the spring."
In Adams County, health officials have recorded more than 17,107 positive cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began. The county has a two-week incidence rate of 797 out of 100,000 people and a test positivity rate of 12.7%.
"For me to be effective as a public health director when I do something like this, I have to have buy in from the county. I have to have buy-in from the elected officials," Douglas said. "We think we can be more effective quicker if we could take broader action and we're taking the action we can right now because that's where we have the worst problem and we think we can get cooperation. I think that more regionally coordinated action and frankly some more leadership with our colleagues at the state would be helpful to us."
Modeling data from the School of Public Health estimates that 1.2% of persons in Adams County are infected with COVID-19 currently. Officials said this presents a substantial risk of transmission of the virus.
"The truth can be tiresome and inconvenient, but it really is in the hands of all of us to work together to stop the spread," said Douglas.
Hospitalization rates are steadily increasing in Adams County, with 2.4 COVID-19 admissions out of every 100,000 people. That rate is four times higher than in early September and the highest rate for the county since early April.
"We are at an extremely critical point in this pandemic, with much at stake, if we don't stop the spread of this virus," said Emma Pinter, Adams County Commissioner and Board Chair. "The wellbeing of our community – our businesses, our schools, our economic vitality – lies in the hands of every single person in Adams County. We each need to follow the new guidelines closely to prevent being moved to the State's Stay at Home Red Level, which is the next step if our numbers do not drop."
Douglas says there are frequent conversations held with other health departments about more of them moving in unison around the Denver Metro area, but politics slows a collective action.
"I think the thing that worries me the most, is that we want to do things that get political support. We want to get things that will make sense to the citizens. Frankly we were much more awake at the threat COVID presented in the spring. While we're not as bad as we were in March and April, we can get there very fast."
The public health order has the following restrictions:
- Spectators are prohibited at all sporting events including Colorado High School Activities Association (CHSAA) sanctioned sporting events.
- A nighttime curfew is imposed in all public places within Adams County, including streets and public rights-of-way, from 10 p.m. until 5 a.m. the following day.
a. During the hours of curfew, any business that is not a Critical Business, as defined in Public Health Order 20-36, must be closed to the public. Employees and individuals providing goods or services to the business are not considered members of the public for purposes of this Order. Restaurants must be closed to in-person dining but may offer curbside and delivery services.
b. During the hours of curfew, all persons are prohibited from using, standing, sitting, traveling or being present on any public street or in any public place, with the following exceptions:
i. Providing or accessing Necessary Activities as defined in Public Health order 20-36, except that this does not include engaging in outdoor activity;
ii. Providing or accessing a Critical Government Function as defined in Public Health Order 20-36;
iii. Providing or accessing a Critical Business as defined in Public Health Order 20-36;
iv. Engaging in Necessary Travel as defined in Public Health Order 20-36 - Restaurants must limit party size to six people or less from no more than two households. Restaurants are encouraged to place a time limit on diners in order to maximize table turnover during hours of operation.
- All alcohol beverage sales, service, and consumption must cease at 10 p.m.
- As required by Public Health Order 20-36, all Critical Businesses, non-Critical Businesses and Critical Government Functions must adopt work from home or telework policies for any operations that can be done remotely.
To read the full public health order, click here.
