On Friday, Polis said he remained confident that state hospitals could cope with any increase in cases. He attributed the increase in the percentage of positive cases to a small number of people requesting evidence during the holidays.
In the week of December 26, when the increase in positivity began, only 150,000 tests were performed in the state, compared to more than 250,000 the previous week.
The governor said it was the right time to move to a less restrictive stance, “as soon as hospital capacity shows enough space.”
He said hospitalizations had dropped from more than 1,600 by the end of November to just under 900 hospitalizations in January. That, he said, means “we can have a little more of a way to live sustainably in Colorado from a social, emotional and economic perspective, while monitoring health data every day in real time.”
Eating in restaurants and other indoor activities is inherently risky
But while Polis is very confident in the effectiveness and supply of vaccines, his decision to allow food in an indoor restaurant in the face of research into the ease with which the virus spreads in this circumstance, even limited to 25% capacity or 50%. people, experts seem risky.
“I think it’s a bold move,” Dr. S. Patrick Kachur, a public health physician, told Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health.
He said New York City has faced similar tensions over the reopening of some businesses, including restaurants, after the virus was brought under control after a brutal spike last spring.
But Kachur says that cramped spaces, artificial ventilation, loud talks, the inability of people to wear masks while eating makes indoor dining rooms “a very risky situation and I think we need to be cautious with decisions that affect the interior dining room “.
The team modeling the Colorado coronavirus predictions was not consulted before the governor facilitated the rules.
“We didn’t participate in that political decision, no,” said Dr. Jonathan Samet, dean of the Colorado School of Public Health.
But he said those calls are intrinsically difficult.
“I think the question of when to start easing policy measures that improve transmission control is a very tough challenge,” Samet said. “And so I understand that the state and the governor in particular draw a fine line between protecting public health and ensuring the economic health of the state.”