Denver mask mandate to end this week

Denver will let its mask mandate for businesses and public spaces expire later this week, Mayor Michael Hancock announced Monday, saying the city is at a “pivot point in this battle” against COVID-19.

Hancock acknowledged that the pandemic, which is nearing its third year, remains a public health emergency, and said face-coverings are still required in certain settings, such as K-12 schools, day care facilities and on public transportation.

But, he said, “This virus is something we’re going to have to manage and learn to live with.”

Masks have been required in indoor public places in most of the metro area since late November as officials in Denver, Jefferson, Adams and Arapahoe counties enacted mandates in an effort to stem the spread of the virus amid surging COVID-19 hospitalizations.

Denver’s “vax or mask” mandate allowed businesses that didn’t want to require masks to only admit people who were vaccinated against the virus. That order was set to expire on Thursday, and will not be renewed.

“Beginning Friday, people will no longer be required under the public health order to wear a mask or show proof of vaccination for entry into a place of business in Denver,” Hancock said during a news briefing.

Several metro counties are reviewing their face-covering requirements this week following a drop in new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. Last week, the state health department ended its vaccination requirement for large, indoor events will end.

Colorado’s state modeling team predicts COVID-19 cases will decrease through February. But transmission remains high, with the team estimating last week that one in 19 Coloradans were contagious and that many people likely will still get infected over the next month even as cases decline.

Modeling has shown that lifting the mask mandate in Denver will not affect the trajectory of the current drop in COVID-19 cases, Bob McDonald, executive director of the Denver Department of Public Health and Environment, said during Monday’s briefing.

“Omicron has run out of fuel,” he said.

Getting vaccinated remains the best protection against the virus, Hancock said.

“The reason there’s still uncertainty around this pandemic is because there’s still too many people who are unvaccinated,” he said.

The Tri-County Health Department will meet later Monday afternoon to discuss whether to extend its mask requirement for schools and child care facilities in Adams and Arapahoe counties. And Jefferson County’s Board of Health will hold a meeting Friday to consider whether to lift the county’s mask requirement, including in schools.

Jefferson County Public Health said in a statement that such discussions are steps “toward a sustainable, safe off-ramp for public health mitigation measures, as our community works to transition to treating COVID-19 as an endemic disease — meaning one that is present, but controlled, in our community.”

Boulder, which mandated face coverings in September ahead of the other metro counties, did not answer a question about whether it is reconsidering its order.

“(The health department) is constantly evaluating important public health metrics, including the severity and impact of omicron, the availability of treatments to all age groups, and the availability of testing and high-quality masks,” said Angela Simental, spokeswoman for Boulder County Public Health, in an email. “At this time, the order remains in effect for all indoor public spaces.”

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