Police said Friday he is confident state hospitals can handle any increase in cases. He attributed the increase in the percentage of positive cases to a reduced number of people seeking tests during the holidays.
In the week of December 26, when the increase in positivity began, only 150,000 tests were done in the state, up from more than 250,000 the previous week.
The governor said it was time to move on to a less restrictive stance, “once the hospital’s capacity shows sufficient space.”
He said hospitalizations dropped from more than 1,600 around the end of November to just under 900 hospitalizations in January. This, he says, means that ‘we can have a little more of a sustainable way of living in Colorado from a social, emotional and economic perspective while monitoring health data every day in real time.’
Eating at restaurants and other indoor activities is inherently risky
But while Polis puts a lot of trust in both the effectiveness and the provision of vaccines, its decision to have an indoor restaurant eaten in the light of research on how easily the virus can spread in those conditions is even limited to 25 percent of capacity. people, experts note as risky.
“It seems to me like a daring step,” says Dr. Patrick Kachur, a public health physician at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University.
He said New York had faced similar tensions over the reopening of some businesses, including restaurants, after the virus was brought under control after a brutal peak last spring.
But Kachur says the limited spaces, artificial ventilation, loud talking, the inability of people to wear masks while eating make indoor dining a very risky situation, and I think we need to be careful about decisions when eating indoors. ‘
The team modeling Colorado’s coronavirus predictions was not consulted until the governor eased the rules.
“We were not involved in the policy decision, no,” said Dr. Jonathan Samet, dean of the Colorado School of Public Health, said.
But he said these calls are inherently difficult.
“I think the question of when to start lifting policies that improve transfer control is a very difficult challenge,” Samet said. “And therefore I understand that the state and especially the governor draw a fine line between protecting public health and ensuring the economic health of the state.”