Gov. Polis ends health emergency declaration in Colorado

COLORADO (KRDO) -- Thursday Governor Jared Polis announced he is ending the health emergency declaration in Colorado.

In a video, Polis said that means Coloradans will be able to get back to work sooner and it will allow the state to recover faster "by ending the health emergency and focusing on recovery and vaccinations."

As a part of the declaration, Gov. Polis issued a new executive order called the COVID-19 disaster recovery order. Since March 2020, Polis has issued 50 COVID-19 related executive orders. The passing of the recovery order effectively ends them all.

The most significant changes in the executive order are the end of the statewide mask mandate, and resuming in person learning in schools.

"I have a 14 year old son, and I think its very important that they are doing the in person learning," Antonio Martines, a Colorado Springs resident, said. "During the pandemic, when they were at home doing the home schooling it really affected my kids."

Emily Velez, a Colorado Springs 4th grade teacher, echoed similar remarks.

"I'm really excited to enter a school year with no masks and social distancing essentially over. So yeah, I am excited and I'm happy Governor Polis feels the same way," Velez said.

Moving forward, one of the most important next steps for the Governors office is getting as many people in Colorado vaccinated as possible.

"Colorado is one of the handful of states to successfully achieve the President's goal of vaccinating seventy percent of adults by the Fourth of July," Gov. Polis said. "We are ensuring that every Coloradan that wants a vaccine will get the vaccine and have it be available in a convenient way."

Other key parts of the Governors executive order are certain incentives to get people back to work, and added protections for renters that are at risk of eviction.

Watch the full video below: