Governor Polis COVID-19 Update April 6, 2020Topline Update This evening, the Governor addressed Coloradans and below are some of the key points from his address that I wanted to provide to you as an update. You can view the full speech here and read the Executive Order here. As of today we have 5,172 cases, 150 deaths, and 994 hospitalizations out of 26,875 completed tests. We are thinking of these families and communities during these trying times. Quick Links to Stay Up to Date UPDATE - Stay at Home Order Extended to April 26th This evening the Governor announced that our state’s stay at home order is now planned to end April 26th, which is two additional weeks beyond the current order and several days ahead of the national goal. Governor Polis said tonight that if there is any way to end it sooner, then we will. And likewise if the numbers of the deceased continue to increase, then it could go longer, which is why it is so critical that Coloradans stay at home. The reason for the April 26th date is because data and science tells us that at this point it is our best chance to avoid a catastrophic loss and loss of life for thousands of our friends, our neighbors, our family members. This extension of the stay-at-home order will not only help us slow the spread of the virus, it will give us crucial time to build out our health care capacity so it can handle the coming wave of hospitalizations that this virus will cause. The Governor mentioned tonight that we are fighting an invisible enemy: a virus that is both deadly and extremely contagious. The fewer social interactions we have with one another, the fewer opportunities there are for people to spread the virus to others, and the fewer infections we will have in our state. We are also in a race against the clock. Because if too many people get seriously ill at once from this virus, our health care system simply will not have the capacity to handle the flood of sick patients. Without an adequate supply of personal protective equipment for our health care workers, without an adequate supply of ventilators for the critically ill, and without the testing supplies that we need for a mass testing and an effective containment program, our only option is to severely limit the number of person-to-person interactions by extending the statewide stay-at-home order. We are doing everything we can to ensure that our health care workers have the personal protective equipment they need to keep themselves safe, i.e., gowns, masks, gloves, and face shields. And we are building out our hospital bed capacity to make sure that we have enough space to handle the projected influx of severely sick patients, and we’re doing everything we can to procure more life-saving ventilators. The Governor also said tonight that the economic consequences will be even more severe and more prolonged if we have a catastrophic breach of our healthcare system. The longer this lasts, the fewer jobs there will be to return to, and the more difficult the recovery will be. By acting swiftly and boldly now we are saving lives and preventing even further economic damage down the road. Thankfully, thanks to our actions, a silver lining is beginning to emerge. The data is telling us these tough measures are starting to work. At the beginning of this crisis, the number of positive cases were doubling every 1 and a half days. Today, the number of positive cases are doubling every six days, which means the spread of the virus is beginning to slow. This is a remarkable achievement by the people of this state. Thank you for taking this seriously. You are helping to turn the tide against this virus. This is not the time to abandon what has been working, it is actually quite the opposite. We need to keep up this good work for a while longer so we can return to a level of normalcy in our economy and our society. Most importantly, we need to stay at home, and not go out unless it’s absolutely necessary. If you go out, stay six feet away from others and wear a cloth facial covering or a mask when you must leave home. We are using our creativity, our innovative, scrappy and independent spirit to procure tests so that we can have widespread testing and containment like Korea and Taiwan, who have been able to successfully return to a level of normalcy by testing, quarantining, and isolating individuals instead of quarantining an entire society. Recovery from both the virus and the economic devastation is possible, and we will get there. But all of these efforts will be in vain, and many many lives will be lost, if we fail to do our crucial patriotic duty and stay home. By staying home, wearing a mask when you go out, practicing proper physical distancing and proper hygiene you are saving lives. Additional Extensions and Executive Orders Today the Governor has released additional Executive Orders to extend previouslyeld orders, as well as take additional actions to further address COVID-19:
We greatly appreciate your helping to share information during this crisis. |