Stay-at-home orders issued for more than 2M in Denver area
DENVER (AP) — Officials in five Denver area counties on Wednesday issued stay-at-home orders affecting more than 2 million people in an effort to help slow the spread of the coronavirus and prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients.
After the orders for Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Douglas and Jefferson counties take effect Thursday, around half of Colorado's 5.7 million people will be under some kind a stay-at-home order. The orders took effect in Denver and the Aspen area this week and in the Telluride area last week. Broomfield County is suburban Denver issued an order Wednesday that encourages people to stay in their homes as much as possible.
The latest round of mandatory orders contains a number of exemptions. Liquor stores and gun shops will remain open partly to prevent panic buying. People can still exercise outdoors and use parks but only in groups of four or less. Tennis courts, golf courses and basketball courts will be closed to prevent groups from gathering.
Businesses considered non-essential can only keep operating through employees working from home. Grocery and hardware stores, banks, laundromats and landscapers are among the businesses exempted. Child care centers can keep operating but only with groups of 10 children or less in rooms.
People did not seem to be taking previous warnings and actions, like the closure of restaurants, seriously and false information, such as COVID-19 being akin to the flu, has persisted, Jefferson County Public Health executive director Mark Johnson said. He hopes the orders help make people realize how serious the outbreak is.
“This is truly the greatest public health crisis this nation has seen at least since 1918,” he said
As of Tuesday, Colorado had more than 900 cases of the virus and 11 people have died, according to the state health department.
In other developments:
— Medical staffers based at Colorado's Fort Carson are being deployed to Washington State to back up doctors and nurses treating coronavirus patients in one of the nation's hardest-hit areas. More than 300 members of the 627th Hospital Center will head to Washington to provide supplemental routine and emergency medical care to help free up Washington providers to focus on detecting and treating patients believed to have been exposed to COVID-19, Fort Carson announced Tuesday.
Within hours of deploying, the unit is capable of establishing a 148-bed full-service hospital even in the most austere conditions, according to The Gazette of Colorado Springs. The hospitals can be in customized tents or repurposed civilian buildings.