The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment is in the process of rolling out its new 5 Star State Certification Program to augment the existing color-coded COVID health and safety dial. The program would allow restaurants to apply for certification in order to do business one level up from the current color level of their county.
The City and County of Denver is currently under Level Red restrictions, which prohibit any indoor dining but earning the 5 Star certification would allow a business to open at Level Orange rules, so a restaurant could seat diners indoors at 25 percent capacity (or a maximum of fifty people, whichever is lower).
The county will apply Friday. It could take three to 10 days for the state to approve the application. In the meantime, the county can start inspecting businesses to have them qualified once the county is approved. Our main priority is going to be driven toward restaurants, and then after that event venues, and then after that other businesses because those restaurants and event venues have had the most negative effects, said Douglas County Facilities Director Tim Hallmark.
To apply, the county must detail how it plans to enforce the rules and how it will handle complaints about compliance.
Counties must also get signature approval from the local health department, local hospitals, commissioners, as well as the sheriff and/or police chief.
The Denver Post
Mark Cerick, left, picks up online ordered meal at the restaurant Somebody People in Denver on Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2020.
Hyoung Chang, The Denver Post
Colorado public health officials this week unveiled a new program to let participating counties offer restaurants and other businesses a path to expand their capacities beyond the limits set by their county’s color level on the COVID-19 restriction dial.
The new 5 Star State Certification Program “requires businesses certified through the program to implement safety measures beyond what is already required by public health orders and guidelines,” according to a Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment news release.
Moffat County will officially remain in Level Orange following mitigation approval from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. The mitigation plan includes the adoption of the state’s mask mandate and goes into effect Thursday, Dec. 17 and runs through Jan. 12, 2021. County Attorney Becky Tyree stated the health order could be rescinded, amended, or extended at any time.
For now, Moffat County has until Dec. 28 to show a decrease in its current positivity rate – which sits at 16.8%, or the state could come in and force the county into Level Red. As of Thursday, the Board of Public Health requested an extension to match the length of the proposed mitigation plan. The Board of Health is still waiting for an answer from the state.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR News
A line of outdoor dining shelters at Tables restaurant in Denver, as coronavirus rules prevent customers from dining indoors on Dec. 10, 2020.
The Colorado health department has finalized rules for a program that would loosen COVID-19 restrictions for businesses going above and beyond public health orders.
To qualify for the new 5 Star State Certification Program, businesses must set up extra safety precautions on top of what is already required by law. Certified businesses will get to expand their operations in exchange, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
Qualifications include plans for outbreak detection, reporting and response processes, high ventilation standards and efforts to provide special business hours or accommodations for at-risk populations.