Longmont City Council Passes Resolution Urging Weld County To Comply With COVID Restrictions
LONGMONT, Colo. (CBS4) - Longmont City Council passed a resolution on Tuesday night, urging Weld County to comply with COVID-19 restrictions. Weld County moved into Level Red Severe Risk on the state's COVID-19 dial last month.
Weld County Commissioners said they will not enforce the restrictions that come with Level Red, which include limited capacity at businesses and gyms, as well as indoor dining restrictions with restaurants.
"This isn't a free-for-all, but make the best decisions for yourself, for your family, for your loved ones, for your friends, for your business," Weld County Commissioner At-Large Kevin Ross told CBS4 in November. "We just don't feel that we should play the heavy hand in government to enforce something that we feel just isn't enforceable."
Longmont Mayor Brian Bagley first proposed and then backed away from an ordinance that would make it unlawful for any hospital or health care provider to provide medical services to any resident of a county or municipality whose elected officials refused to comply with the governor's emergency orders.
RELATED: Political Battle Brews Over Enforcement Of COVID Health Orders Between Longmont, Weld County
Longmont City Council approved a letter on Tuesday night imploring the Weld County Commissioners to follow the governor's COVID-19 restrictions.
"By not adopting and enforcing public health guidance consistently across all counties, we create a situation that creates economic winners and losers," the letter states. "But more importantly, we fail to contain the spread of infection, risk overwhelming our health care systems, put undue stress on our frontline workers, delay economic recovery, and risk the lives of members of our communities."
Longmont is part of both Boulder and Weld Counties. In the letter, city council members cited COVID-19 data in each county.
"In the past three weeks, Boulder County has seen declining numbers following the implementation of Level Red restrictions, both in cumulative incidence and percent positivity rates," the city council members stated. "Weld County, on the other hand, has seen both those metrics increase in that period. At this time, Weld County's incidence rate is 67% higher than Boulder County's, and the two-week positivity rate is more than twice as high."
CBS4 has reached out to the Weld County Commissioners for a response to Longmont's letter and resolution.
