Governor Polis will move the state out of a “Stay-at-Home” phase and into the next step, named “Safer-at-Home.” While the general public is still highly encouraged to limit social interactions and only go out when essential, there are some businesses that will begin to offer services with strict precautions. This includes retail operations, salons and dog grooming services and childcare. More about those guidelines can be found here.

One of the most important measures the state will be introducing, is flexibility for local governments to tweak the statewide restricts to reflect their individual situation. While the exact process is still being worked out, this is what is known so far:

Local and County governments have three options:

  1. Stay consistent with state order
  2. Go farther than the state order, including but not limited to stay at home orders or additional protective measures.
  3. Apply for a waiver from CDPHE to relax guidelines further than the state. Local governments will need to have very low case count and/or demonstrate proof of 14 consecutive days of decline of infection of COVID-19 in the jurisdiction. The application to CDPHE must include a written County COVID-19 suppression plan approved by the appropriate local public health authority, all hospitals within the jurisdiction and elected leadership within the jurisdiction.

It is fully expected that more information will be released in the coming days. Stay tuned for more information about how local communities can benefit from this flexibility and please visit www.covid19.colorado.gov for up-to-date information from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and www.AgisOpen.com for information about COVID-19 and its impact on agriculture.