UPDATE: Tri-County Health Department (TCHD) extended the local public health order requiring face masks in indoor public spaces and in outdoor spaces whenever 6-foot distancing is not maintained. TCHD is extending this order for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic, or until amended or rescinded. No other changes were made to the order. Click here to learn more.
On July 24, Tri-County Health Department’s face covering order went into effect. The order was amended to align with Governor Polis’ statewide order that went into effect July 16. The Tri-County Health Department (TCHD) order, like the Governor’s order, requires people to wear a face covering in public spaces and, in addition, requires use of face coverings in outdoor spaces when social distancing cannot be maintained.
To increase consistency and avoid confusion, TCHD also amended the order to align with the Governor’s Executive Order on all other aspects. This includes exempting children 10 and younger from wearing a mask.
While the risk of COVID-19 transmission is greater indoors than outdoors, close contact in any setting without a face covering can be a risk. As such, face coverings are required when engaged in outdoor activity where 6-foot distancing cannot be maintained. Furthermore, it is unlikely that transmission rates will be reduced in the next 30 days, especially since this time frame used in the Governor’s order will include the anticipated re-opening of schools. The ultimate duration of the TCHD order will be based primarily on key indicators of the epidemic (e.g., incidence rates, hospitalizations and bed capacity, and deaths) as well as measures of mask compliance and may be amended, extended or rescinded based on that information.
For more information, click here.