Variance Protection Program News Today

COVID-19 first arrived in Mesa County exactly one year ago today. Over those 365 days, Mesa County has seen more than 150 people die after testing positive for the coronavirus. However, as Mesa County enters its second year living with the virus, vaccines are outpacing total infections, hospitalizations have plummeted and events that were totally shut down last year are readying to return. On the occasion of Mesa County completing a full trip around the sun with COVID-19, The Daily Sentinel spo...

Britany Miller starts her day at the Collbran Cafe at 7:30 a.m. and does just about everything. She is in the kitchen working the breakfast and lunch shifts, then helps in the front of the restaurant until 3:30 or 4 p.m. She’s usually done in time to pick her kids up from school. Though the town she serves has a fraction of the population of Grand Junction, she had just as big of a need for the five-star certification from the Mesa County Variance Protection Program. Going to pickup-only i...

The committee will certify those businesses that qualify for the states "5-star" rating program. "Hopefully it will be an online process where they will file an application and file their safety plan," Pueblo Mayor Nick Gradisar said during a press conference held Tuesday outside the Pueblo County Courthouse. "Weve worked on a template for them to prepare a safety plan to say, these are the things we are going to do to make sure that it is as safe as it possibly can (be) for inside activities ...

Gov. Jared Polis thanked Mesa County on Friday for starting its unique program to help keep businesses open while a pandemic rages around them. Started over the summer, the county’s Variance Protection Program, also known as Five Star, has allowed businesses, including restaurants, to operate under a COVID-19 pandemic alert level lower than where counties are rated. As a result, the first restaurants and other businesses outside of Mesa County that will operate under a new statewide versio...

As coronavirus continues to spread, is it the right time for a ‘5-star’ program across Colorado? Colorado Department of Health and Environment and last updated 2020-12-11 20:58:08-05 DENVER — As the pandemic stretches into its ninth month, many Colorado counties and businesses are pushing for eased restrictions to allow businesses to reopen, if done safely. Mesa County pioneered a ‘5-star program originally as a list of open businesses taking precautions, that’s become ...

Diners stay warm outside at Mountain Tap Brewery as restaurants get creative with the outdoor-only dining restrictions. (Photo by Kari Dequine Harden) STEAMBOAT SPRINGS — With the onset of colder weather, tightening restrictions due to COVID-19 and no help from the federal government since the spring, the restaurant industry is in peril. According to the National Restaurant Association, more than 110,000 restaurants nationwide have closed due to the pandemic, and a list of restaurants in the ...