Most criteria for easing restrictions will be met and facial covering requirement will begin

Boulder County, Colo. — Along with other counties in the Denver Metro region, Boulder County will allow the current extension of the state’s Stay-at-Home Order to expire at midnight on May 8.

“I just want to say ‘thank you' to the entire community for your patience and understanding while the Stay-At-Home Order has been extended here in Boulder County,” said Jeff Zayach, Boulder County Public Health executive director. “I know this extension has been difficult for many people - it was an extremely difficult decision for me. But I’m pleased to report that because of the extension, we’ve made significant progress toward what we set out to do.”

Since the local extension of the Stay-At-Home Order began on April 27, access to COVID-19 testing has improved, with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment providing free testing and personal protective equipment (PPE) to local hospitals and clinics to conduct public testing clinics.

By Friday, May 8, when the current extended Stay-At-Home Order expires, the Boulder County Public Health disease investigation team will have expanded its staffing ten-fold to conduct COVID-19 disease tracking and contact tracing – vital tools to help slow the spread of the virus.

Boulder County Public Health staff has also been working closely with the local business community to help ensure that employers and employees have what they need to adhere to the statewide Safer-at-Home requirements in Boulder County beginning on May 9. Adherence to the requirements, along with wearing face coverings when it's difficult to maintain 6 feet separation, will help to limit the spread of disease and support local businesses to remain open.

As expected, with testing access improving, there has been and will continue to be an increase in the number of residents who test positive for COVID-19. Fortunately, hospitalizations in Boulder County continue to remain stable. With expanded testing there will be better ability to identify who in the community has tested positive and stop further transmission of the disease.

“I feel comfortable moving forward to the more relaxed Safer-at-Home phase on May 9 since we’ve made progress on testing access, the addition of staff for contact tracing, St. Anthony’s North Hospital surge facility will be complete in the event we need it, and we’ve worked closely with our business community to develop social distancing requirements,” said Zayach.

Residents are encouraged to visit the state Safer at Home website to familiarize themselves with the requirements of the statewide order. Specific checklists are available for business sectors on the Boulder County Public Health COVID-19 webpage.

Boulder County Public Health COVID-19 updates are shared by press release and/or on the Boulder County Public Health Facebook and Twitter social media pages and the COVID-19 website at www.boco.org/covid-19.

-BoulderCountyHealth.org-