Colorado Gov. Jared Polis on Tuesday declared a state of emergency in response to the state’s coronavirus outbreak.
There are now at least 15 confirmed cases of coronavirus, formally known as COVID-19, in Colorado. Four new cases were announced on Monday alone and a fifth was being further investigated after inconclusive test results. Three more cases were announced on Tuesday, including Eagle, Gunnison and Arapahoe counties.
One of those new cases from Monday was a Larimer County woman in her 50s who has been diagnosed with pneumonia, a complication of the virus that can be deadly.
“There will be more confirmed cases,” Polis predicted. “We’re going to get through this together.”
The governor said that it’s possible there have been cases of coronavirus spreading in the state through unknown means, a phenomenon known as “community spread” which takes the outbreak to a new level of seriousness and puts many more at risk of infection.
“While we don’t have a confirmed case of community spread in Colorado, we have several candidate cases where its possible,” he said.
At the very least, Polis said, health officials are expecting cases of community spread in the coming days.
State and local health officials have been working to isolate those who interacted with confirmed patients. Many people are in quarantine — including 13 Australians in Aspen who were traveling with a 21-year-old woman who was diagnosed with the virus after returning home to Australia last week from the resort community.
The declaration gives Polis broad power to order quarantines, ban public gatherings, suspend state rules and take other actions. The governor had said he wouldn’t hesitate to invoke his emergency powers if necessary.
Polis said he decided to declare an emergency after studying the response to the outbreak in other countries and states.
The governor said a testing site will soon be opened in east Denver where people with a doctor’s note can be screened. Another site will be opened in the high country coming up.
Polis said more testing is needed in the need. “We need to significantly increase our capacity,” he said, adding that he hopes anyone who wants a test will be able to get one soon.
He added: “The bottom of line is this: The more people we test and the sooner we do it, the better chance we have at successful containment.”
As part of his emergency declaration, the governor ordered his Department of Labor and Employment to provide paid leave to workers in the food, hospitality, childcare, medical and education fields while they await coronavirus testing if they exhibit flu-like symptoms. He also ordered the Department of Revenue to allow Coloradans 65 and older to temporarily renew their driver’s licenses online.
He urged private sector businesses to cover their employees’ time off if they are sick and need to seek testing.
Polis said the goal is to ensure that the state isn’t dramatically disrupted.
“Our goal is not only to save lives, but it’s also to prevent the sort of widespread disruptions we are seeing in China and Italy and other areas of the world,” he said.
Nevertheless, he said: “Declaring a state of emergency doesn’t mean Colorado isn’t open for business, or recreation or tourism. We are.”
Polis said more executive actions will follow in the coming days, including guidance for schools and nursing homes on how to respond.
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