COVID-19 cases decreasing in Colorado but unlikely to relax business restrictions soon
EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) -- Commissioner Mark Waller dashed the hopes Monday of anyone hoping that the recent statewide decline in COVID-19 cases will lead to a quick return of indoor dining at restaurants.
"We're still probably weeks away from being able to have in-person dining in our restaurants," he said. "And I tell you, that's just not acceptable. We need to be able to get there now!"
Waller said that the number of positive COVID cases, and the number of hospitalizations, have decreased during the past two weeks. El Paso County Health said Monday that the average number of daily tests taken was 3,559 the week before Christmas and 3,222 the week of Christmas.
"Unfortunately, what the state is telling us, is that's not good enough," he said. "They need to see us having to be at an appropriate level in three different categories, and it has to be at that level for a sustained two-week period of time."
Waller said the county's infection rate meets the state's threshold, and hospitalizations are several days away from doing so.
"The problem -- and I don't know when we'll get there -- is the number of cases per 100,000 people," he said. "We're at 600 and we should be between 150 to 300. We're trending in the right direction. But that category has us stalled. There may be fewer cases but the percentage is still the same."
Waller said there's no evidence to support the state's belief that restaurants are a factor in spreading the virus.
"Restaurants are struggling to stay open," he said. "Every day we wait, puts them closer to going under. We need to get them reopened. We're getting ridiculous with what we're putting them through. The restaurants in the ski towns can open. Why can't ours be open, too?"
Waller is skeptical of a warning from health officials that cases could spike starting a week after Christmas.
"They also said cases would spike after Thanksgiving and, and except for one day, they didn't." he said. "I don't think we'll see it after Christmas unless the spread comes as a result of something other than in-person dining in restaurants."
Waller believes that state lawmakers should be involved in the process, and is frustrated that the Democratic-controlled Legislature supports Gov. Jared Polis in the matter by failing to oppose his declaration of emergency powers every month during the pandemic.
"Our state constitution didn't contemplate that we'd be doing this for months at a time," he said. "He should have to get approval from the Legislature to do that."
Waller said the response to the pandemic -- shutting things down -- has become far worse that the pandemic itself. He also described the financial help allocated in the latest federal stimulus package as "way too little, way too late."
"What they're getting isn't even enough to pay rent, let alone make a living," he said. "I think that even if we were to reopen restaurants tomorrow, we're going to see a significant number go out of business."
El Paso County Health said Monday that the recent decline in COVID cases could be due to three factors: Fewer people being tested because some testing centers were closed for Christmas weekend; less of the virus circulating in the community; and a lag in testing labs reporting test results from the weekend.
