San Miguel County orders shelter-in-place to limit spread of COVID-19, entire county to be tested
SAN MIGUEL COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) -- The San Miguel County Department of Public Health announced new measures to combat the spread of COVID-19 Wednesday. The measures include a shelter-in-place order and having the entire county tested for the virus.
The shelter-in-place order begins immediately after midnight, 12:01 a.m. Thursday, and runs until April 3. The county public health department clarified that they're not barricading roads or preventing traffic from coming in and out of the county. The shelter-in-place means "dramatically limiting your time in public places," they said in a Facebook post.
The testing will be free of charge in partnership with United Biomedical. According to the release, San Miguel County will be the first entire county tested with UBI's COVID-19 blood test.
The testing is voluntary, but the shelter-in-place is not. Any violators of the shelter-in-place order are subject to criminal and civil charges.
The following are the shelter-in-place orders, as defined by the SMCDPH:
- Shelter-in-place
- Prohibition of all events more than 10 people.
- Prohibition of all events at daycare centers, child care centers, home child care center, private schools and day schools, community recreational center, ice rinks, and libraries.
- Prohibition of all events at food establishments except for the provision of takeout and delivery of food.
- Cease all activities at business facilities in the county except for minimum basic operations and essential services.
- Cease operations and reservations to short-term lodging.
- All public transportation is considered an event.
- Visitors to San Miguel County are directed to return home immediately. All non-resident homeowners are strongly encouraged to leave the county and return to their primary place of residence.
For the full press release and more details, see here.
