NOTE: This is the live blog from Tuesday, May 5. Click here for the live blog for Wednesday, May 6, 2020.
The novel coronavirus has claimed the lives of 851 people in Colorado, according to data released Monday afternoon from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
READ MORE: List of Colorado businesses that are open
Click here for the latest update on the number of cases, the age, gender and location of presumptive positive, indeterminate and confirmed cases from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
Below, we're updating this blog with the latest information regarding COVID-19 in Colorado.
Latest updates:
Tuesday, May 5
4 p.m. | Latest COVID-19 numbers for Colorado
Here were the latest coronavirus numbers for Colorado, as of 4 p.m. Tuesday, with the change from Monday in parentheses:
17,364 cases (+457)
2,919 hospitalized (+81)
56 counties (+0)
85,976 people tested (+2,710)
903 deaths (+52)
170 outbreaks (+7)
3:48 p.m. | Tri-County Health Department will allow order to expire
Tri-County Health Department (TCHD) will allow its stay-at-home order to expire Friday at midnight for Adams and Arapahoe counties. The region will be under the state's "safer at home" initiative after Friday. The department was the last Denver-area health agency to confirm the expiration of the order.
2:48 p.m. | Englewood offering rent assistance to residents
Englewood residents struggling to pay rent are being offered help from the city. The City of Englewood announced Tuesday the Rent Assistance Program for those with a household income of 300% of the federal poverty level or less.
The city provided this graph showing the federal poverty levels:
Applicants must apply online and adhere to the following qualifications to be considered:
- Provide proof of who lives in your household (must be the ID's or the lease showing all household members).
- Provide proof of income for everyone in the household for the past month. This may include pay stabs, social security award letter, proof of child support, or proof of other income.
- If applying due to job loss related to COVID-19, residents must provide proof of applying for unemployment compensation.
- Applicants must provide a current signed lease.
- Applicants must provide the landlord's contact information: The named landlord must be willing to accept payment from Arapahoe County.
More information can be found here: englewoodco.gov/rent-assistance-program.
To apply for assistance please contact Leslie Cannon at 303-795-4531 from 7:30 a.m. - 12 p.m. and 1 - 3 p.m. or email LCannon@arapahoegov.com.
1:01 p.m. | Denver mayor describes phased approach to lifting restrictions
Denver Mayor Michael Hancock hosted a briefing Tuesday to discuss the next phase of reopening the city and the mask requirement order, which goes into effect Wednesday. The city's stay-at-home order expires after Friday.
Starting Saturday, these businesses can reopen:
- Offices with less than 50% on site, 6 feet of social distancing in site.
- Retail with only 50% on site and 6 feet social distancing between customers and staff.
- Hair and nail salons, tattoo parlors, pet groomers, personal trainers -- 10 or fewer people at single location or max of 50% occupancy, whichever is less, by appointment only.
- Eye doctor, chiropractor -- 10 or fewer, max of 50% occupancy, by appointment only.
The mayor said there is currently no schedule on when restaurants and bars can reopen. He said, "this is a journey, not a marathon," when it comes to a timeline for these types of businesses.
As the city lifts the stay-at-home order, it will be replaced with a system of more testing and contact tracing. The city launched a campaign to promote greater access to testing called "Wellness Winnie." The program will provide mobile testing to underserved communities with a goal of seven vehicles in operation in the coming weeks.
The mayor said the city currently could do at least 1,000 swab tests per day, and they will soon ramp up from there. Clinics said they could do nearly 3,000 additional swab tests per day. They are also working on removing some of the barriers — like the requirement of a doctor's referral — to get a COVID-19 test.
Contact tracing will also be an important part of the next phase of reopening, the mayor said. In partnership with Denver Health, police, and employees, the city is on track to have 100 contact tracers, which will give city health officials a better lay of the land concerning the spread of the virus.
READ MORE: List of Colorado businesses that are open
11 a.m. | More counties moving to "safer-at-home" phase
Jefferson, Boulder and Broomfield counties on Tuesday morning announced their stay-at-home orders would be expiring after Friday. Like Denver, they will transition into a safer-at-home phase.
The statewide stay-at-home order expired last week, but several counties along the Front Range extended their orders through May 8. Under a safer-at-home phase, critical businesses can remain open and many non-critical businesses can begin to reopen.
Tri-County Health — which covers Arapahoe, Adams and Douglas counties — also had extended its stay-at-home order through May 8, but the agency by Tuesday had not announced whether the order would be extended.
6 a.m. | CPW says all state park campgrounds to remain close
Colorado Parks and Wildlife said campgrounds will remain closed until further notice. According to its website, CPW staff are working on a reopening plan, but are asking visitors to remain flexible in their travel plans as they navigate this time.
5 a.m. | Adams County to discuss reopening the county today
Adams County will hold a Zoom meeting today at 4 p.m. to inform residents on reopening efforts in the county, moving to the statewide safer at home phase, and assistance for small businesses.
Click herefor the live blog from Monday, May 4, 2020.
