Growing COVID cases leads Gov. Polis and local counties to raise to the caution level red. Changes go into affect Friday Nov 20th

COVID cases are on the rise again in Colorado and it appears that more drastic measures for citizens and business owners is coming our way this Friday, November 20th. Local health and political officials have confirmed that Jefferson, Arapahoe and Adams counties will be moving to the higher level.

What does this mean? Here are the changes that will affect all of us.

• Elementary schools are still able to hold in-person classes and middle schools can do either in-person, a hybrid program or remote learning. But it is suggested that high schools go to hybrid or virtual learning, if they haven’t. For colleges and universities it is recommended they go to remote classes.
• Restaurants can no longer do indoor dining, but they can still do curbside pickup and takeout. They can also do outdoor dining by limiting groups to only members of their households.
• Last call for alcohol is moved from 10 p.m. to 8 p.m. and bars remain closed.

Local groceries stores are beginning to see shoppers starting to stock up on food and other necessities as the fear of another shutdown looms in the unforseen future.

If Denver and other counties move to Level Purple restrictions, outdoor dining will no longer be allowed at restaurants, according to the new guidelines. Polis says he believes the Level Red restrictions will be effective in flattening the current coronavirus spike.

Of the newly created highest Level Purple, Hancock said, “We expect to be there.”

The state health department recorded 30,843 cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, last week. It’s the sixth consecutive week that the state has recorded a record number of new coronavirus cases and reflects how infections are now at the highest level since the state had reliable data from testing.

There were 1,294 people hospitalized with confirmed COVID-19 and another 130 people with suspected COVID-19, according to the health department.

Before publishing this article, I spoke with Rob from Dirty Dogs Roadhouse in Golden and Rob confirmed that Dirty Dogs will continue to stay open with outside dining, however alcohol will have to stop at 8pm from the 10pm when Jefferson County was at the Orange Level.