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Colorado Gov. Jared Polis extended the state’s safer-at-home order and amended it to let bars and restaurants in counties under looser levels of COVID-19 restrictions to serve alcohol later than those in counties under higher restrictions.
The amended and extended executive order will remain in effect 30 days from Saturday, Sept. 19.
As of 10 p.m. Monday, each county’s “last call” will be dependent on its status in Colorado’s COVID-19 dial, which sets levels of “openness” based on a county’s number of cases, percent positivity of COVID-19 tests and the impact on hospitals as well as local considerations.
Counties were assigned one of five levels on Tuesday, Sept. 15:
In late July, after the average daily cases in the first 19 days of July nearly doubled from the same period in June, Polis issued a statewide last call of 10 p.m. as a temporary effort to curb late-night drinking and make individuals less likely to let their guard down around social distancing rules, he said at the time.
COVID-19 in Colorado tracker: Larimer and state case, death and hospital data for September
In late August, Polis extended the statewide last call to 11 p.m., citing a decrease in the rate of positive tests among Colorado residents — particularly among those ages 20-29 — in the month leading to the extension.
Under his amendment this month, counties in the Protect Our Neighbors stage can opt out of the statewide last call and choose their own last call up to 2 a.m., which was when state law required bars and restaurants to stop serving alcohol prior to the pandemic.
Counties under varying levels of “Safer at Home” status will have the following last calls:
That means Larimer County, which is ranked “cautious” on the state’s dial, will be able to have a last call of midnight.
As of Sunday morning, no counties were ranked “high risk” or lower on the state’s dial.
Counties can move between levels on the dial as conditions improve or worsen. On Sept. 29, counties will be allowed to submit requests for new level designations.
Before the most recent levels were assigned Tuesday, Larimer County commissioners had asked the Larimer County Board of Health to apply for “Protect Our Neighbors” status, noting that the county met all metrics except the number of positive cases per 100,000 residents over a two-week period.
At the time, Larimer County’s average was 75 per 100,000, three times the state’s standard of 25 per 100,000. According Larimer County’s COVID-19 dashboard Sunday morning, its 14-day case rate remains 75 per 100,000.
Sarah Kyle is a content coach at the Coloradoan. Contact her at sarahkyle@coloradoan.com. Support her work and that of other Coloradoan journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.
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