COLORADO, USA — Colorado's statewide mask mandate has been extended through early May; however, some modifications have been added for counties with low COVID-19 rates.
Gov. Jared Polis (D-Colorado) announced Friday that the mask order would be extended for an additional 30 days beginning Saturday, April 3.
> Video above: Colorado's statewide mask mandate likely to be over in mid-April according to Polis
Under the modified executive order, people will be required to wear masks at the following places statewide:
- Schools (including extracurricular activities)
- Child care centers
- Indoor children’s camps
- Public-facing state government facilities
- Congregate care facilities
- Prisons
- Jails
- Emergency medical and other healthcare settings
- Personal services and limited healthcare settings
In counties that are currently in levels other than Green on the COVID dial 3.0, masks will also be required in all public indoor settings when 10 or more unvaccinated people or people of unknown vaccination status are present.
Counties that are at Level Green on the state's COVID dial 3.0 will only be required to enforce masking at the places listed above.
“We fought hard to get Colorado kids back in school successfully, and we’re not going to jeopardize Colorado’s return of in-person learning by changing the mask policy this school year,” Polis said in the release.
During a press conference on Monday, Polis had said he was likely to extend the mask order for about two weeks before handing over control to local jurisdictions.
“We’re likely to have about a two-week extension of that mask order to get us to the point where we more formally devolve the authority,” the governor said when asked about the mask mandate during a news conference.
At least two local public health officials requested he keep the statewide mask mandate for now.
There are currently 31 Colorado counties at Level Green, the release says.
Under the COVID dial 3.0, counties qualify for Level Green, if they have up to 35 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people. Counties will be moved into Level Green once they maintain the appropriate metrics for at least one week.
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