Colorado Health Leaders Asking Public For Input On New COVID Dial

DENVER (CBS4) - The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment wants to hear from the public about an idea of a new COVID-19 dial. The state says the dial would essentially loosen restrictions counties currently face.

The current dial helps state health experts determine mitigation based on localized data.

CDPHE met with local public health agencies on Saturday to get their feedback on the proposed idea of a new COVID dial.

They say it provides "the ability to better balance disease suppression with economic hardship due to increasing vaccinations and decreasing disease rates."

The new COVID dial, dubbed as Dial 2.0, is only in draft mode while the state solicits input from Coloradans.

Here's what CDPHE included in the draft:

• An increase in the range of incidence metrics for all colors to better balance disease suppression with economic hardship, while preventing a breach in hospital capacity.
• Moving to a 7-day metric of incidence rate, percent positivity of testing, and hospitalizations instead of a 14 day metric to more quickly respond to local conditions
• Decreasing the metric requirement for testing positivity rates in the yellow and orange levels to continue to promote testing as an important disease containment strategy.
• Special consideration from CDPHE for counties under 20,000 population to determine the level on the dial, accounting for weekly variability in the percent positivity of tests and disease incidence rates.

"Coloradans have made significant sacrifices to reduce disease transmission, so it is time to update the dial to reflect this reality, plus the increasing number of people who are immunized," said Jill Hunsaker Ryan, CDPHE Executive Director.

In November, CDPHE added a purple level on the current dial as cases and hospitalizations jumped drastically.

Coloradans can submit their feedback on the draft until Feb. 1 at 5 p.m. CDPHE says it will have final guidelines "shortly after the comment period."

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