DENVER (AP) - Denver officials are urging residents to stay home between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. in an effort to stem the tide of coronavirus cases, which could overwhelm area hospitals by the end of the year.
Mayor Michael Hancock said during a virtual news conference Friday that the “Home by 10 Order,” which will last for at least 30 days, is necessary to avoid another citywide stay-at-home order. He also urged residents not to gather or mix with other households.
“I’m not going to mince any words here when it comes to the spread of the coronavirus,” Hancock said. “We’re on a very dangerous path. We’re seeing rapid, significant increases in the numbers of people getting sick, and many of those people ended up in the hospital.”
The mayor shied away from calling the order a curfew because he said enforcement would only target the most egregious violations, not, for instance, someone walking their dog or going for a run after 10 p.m.
Bars and liquor stores will not be allowed to sell alcohol after 10 p.m., and restaurants will be barred from offering dine-in service after that time. The order will not apply to critical businesses, employees going to or from work, travel, first responders or schools, and it will be temporarily lifted on Thanksgiving Day.
“We’re not going to sit here and tell you that Thanksgiving is canceled in Denver. It is not,” Hancock said. “But I’m going to urge everyone to think differently about Thanksgiving this year.”
Bob McDonald, executive director of the Denver Department of Public Health and Environment, said 135 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 in Denver on Tuesday, nearing the peak of 174 in late April, and nearly 700 cases of the coronavirus were reported in the last 24 hours.
“If we don’t turn the trajectory of our cases, it’s projected that hospital capacity could be overwhelmed by the end of December,” he said.
Those who violate the order could face up to a $999 fine and 300 days in jail, but McDonald noted that only 222 citations have been issued in Denver since the start of the pandemic. Those citations stem from more than 17,000 cases of possible violations of health orders.
“I don’t know that anybody has received a $999 fine, and certainly no one has been put in jail,” McDonald said. “The order is in place so that we have some tools to address the most egregious violations, but we’re not out actively going door-to-door to make sure that everybody is complying.”
Denver joins Summit and Adams counties, as well as the city of Pueblo, in imposing overnight restrictions on residents.
A citywide 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew began in Pueblo on Oct. 30 and was set to last at least two weeks, and a similar curfew will take effect in Adams County on Saturday night and is set to last at least 30 days.
Summit County, home of many of the state’s ski resorts and one of the state’s epicenters for the virus in the spring, has also enacted a curfew and other restrictions after state officials intervened because of the rising number of cases there.
Under a public health order that takes effect Friday, no public or private gatherings are allowed between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m., and restaurants must close by 9:30 p.m.
County Commissioner Elisabeth Lawrence told the Summit Daily News that state officials suggested the curfew.
“To keep ourselves out of stay-at-home, we really needed to show a good-faith effort to the state that we’re taking this seriously, and here are some additional restrictions that we will put in place to help try to control our numbers,” she said.
On Thursday, Gov. Jared Polis pleaded with residents to wear masks and reduce social interactions as state health officials reported that hospitalizations from the coronavirus had reached the highest level since the pandemic began. Polis said 894 people are currently hospitalized with COVID-19, surpassing the state’s peak of 888 patients in April.
For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some - especially older adults and people with existing health problems - it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and death.
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