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December 2, 2021
ADAMS COUNTY, COLORADO
A publication of
Northglenn-ThorntonSentinel.com
VOLUME 58 | ISSUE 17
COVID mask-wearing order for Arapahoe, Adams counties Jeffco, Denver also get mandate; Douglas County passes BY ELLIS ARNOLD EARNOLD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Facing the possibility that the current COVID-19 surge could breach Colorado’s hospital capacity, the public health agency for Adams and Arapahoe counties has issued a new indoor mask-wearing mandate, effective Nov. 24 through at least the end of the year. The Nov. 22 mask order from the Tri-County Health Department’s board echoed those from health authorities in Jefferson County, Denver and some other counties, while Douglas County leaders signaled Nov. 23 they don’t plan to require the wearing of masks. Hospital demand was the driving force behind the action by the board of Tri-County Health — which serves Adams and Arapahoe counties and provides certain services in Douglas County — to approve the new mask mandate. With rates of new coronavirus cases reaching levels not seen since last December — and daily deaths among those with COVID-19 recently hitting numbers higher than they did during the first wave in spring 2020 — coronavirus hospitalizations in Colorado may soon overtake last December’s peak. That mark was 1,847 confirmed COVID patients on Dec. 1, 2020. The Colorado School of Public Health has estimated a 48% chance that hospital demand exceeds 2,000 beds in the next several weeks if coronavirus trends remain on their current trajectory, John Douglas, executive director of Tri-County Health, cited during the Nov. 22 meetiong of the agency’s board. Hospital bed capacity in Colorado is now at an “all-time low”
Little Link Balin clutches a stuffed animal given to him by his mom, Amanda, and Adams County Children and Family Services staff Nov. 20 in the parking lot of Thornton’s Appliance Factory at 321 E. 84th Ave. The lot hosted Adams County’s Operation Freebird, which provided all the fixings for a Thanksgiving meal. See more photos, page 5. PHOTO BY SCOTT TAYLOR
compared to other times during the pandemic, Douglas’ presentation said. That’s partly due to patients hospitalized for conditions other than COVID-19, although COVIDspecific hospitalizations themselves have been on the rise for months. The mask order applies to all people 2 and older in all public indoor spaces in Adams and Arapahoe counties with certain exceptions. Douglas mentioned recent requests to the state public-health department to institute a mask
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mandate — pleas that have gone unanswered. “We felt that if the state was unwilling to act, metro-wide action” could help alleviate the hospital crisis, Douglas said during the meeting. Also on Nov. 22, the Jeffco Public Health board voted 4-1 to institute a mask mandate for people 3 and older. “This is (an) action that really should have been taken a while ago,” Jeffco health board chair Greg
Deranleau said during the video meeting, referencing guidelines from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that strongly recommend mask wearing in high-transmission areas. Denver followed suit with a mask order a day later. Boulder and Larimer counties already had issued mask mandates in recent months. Tri-County’s order will not apply in Douglas County, where the SEE MASKS, P10
BRIGHT AND LOCAL
Connecting with local artist, vendors at Holiday Market P14