Coloradans will be allowed to go mask-free in almost all settings, Gov. Jared Polis said Friday in an announcement that marks one of the most significant returns to pre-pandemic life.
“We are going from mask-wearing requirements to mask-wearing suggestions and guidance,” Polis said at a news conference.
San Juan Basin Public Health, which issued its own local mask order for La Plata County, announced Friday it is allowing the order to expire but is issuing a public health advisory urging residents to wear face coverings in indoor public spaces and maintain 6 feet of physical distance between non-household people.
Mask-wearing is still encouraged for unvaccinated people and will continue to be required in assisted-living facilities, emergency medical settings, and jails and prisons. Face coverings will also still be mandated in schools and child care facilities with unvaccinated teachers or staff members.
Businesses can still require patrons to wear masks or require that people provide proof of full vaccination under the changes announced by Polis.
San Juan Basin Public Health said the local mask order has helped protect unvaccinated individuals at high risk of getting COVID.
“With local public health orders moving to advisories, SJBPH strongly urges residents who have not yet been vaccinated to do so immediately,” the health department said in a news release Friday. “... The shift of most public health orders to advisories and the continued spread of the virus presents a clear choice to unvaccinated residents: Receive protection through vaccination or put yourself and your family at high risk for catching the severe variants of COVID-19 circulating in our community.”
According to data collected during the week of April 25 to May 1 by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and SJBPH, unvaccinated residents were 20.7 times more likely to catch COVID-19 than a vaccinated person in Archuleta County and 11.5 times more likely in La Plata County.
As of Friday, the health department was reporting 3,963 total cases in La Plata County and 960 total cases in Archuleta County.
“With the CDC and statewide guidelines changing, it is more important than ever to get vaccinated right away to protect yourself and your family,” said Liane Jollon, executive director of the health department. “... Aside from vaccination, masks are by far our most effective and least costly way to limit indoor spread of the disease.”
Colorado’s alterations follow new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that fully vaccinated people no longer need to socially distance or wear masks indoors with some exceptions. The CDC says mask-wearing is still encouraged or required in a number of settings, including mass transit.
Also on Friday, Eagle County announced it is dropping all of its coronavirus-related public health restrictions for the first time since March 12, 2020. The latest restrictions were set to be in place through May 27, but the county ended them early because of a steady decline in cases as vaccination rates have increased.
“We felt confident that if we could achieve a community vaccination rate of 60% that we would see a rapid decrease in our disease rates,” said Heath Harmon, who leads the Eagle County Public Health Department. “Our current data confirms this with our lowest disease incidence since October of 2020. As a result, we will rescind public health orders earlier than originally planned.”
This is a developing story that will be updated.
