Custer County Board of Health votes to end COVID restrictions

CUSTER COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) -- During a Board of Health meeting in Custer County Wednesday, the board voted to remove all COVID-19 restrictions and return to full business capacity with no countywide mask mandate.

The vote was two to one with Tom Flower being the sole board member to vote against removing the COVID-19 restrictions.

Custer County has had a COVID-19 positivity rate of 0% and no new hospitalizations, according to state data updated on Wednesday.

Public Health Director Clifford Brown said he believes that a recent executive order issued by Gov. Jared Polis allows the county to bypass Level Green on the state's COVID-19 dial and just opt out altogether.

Gov. Polis' office sent a statement to our partners at 9News saying that they were reaching out to Custer County about the move. The statement said "getting back to the Colorado we love won't be like flipping a light switch."

According to a statement of the Custer County's Board of Health, which is also the Custer County Commissioners, the removal of COVID-19 safety requirements is effective immediately.

"I think it's too soon," said Custer County Commissioner Tom Flower. "We just got the numbers going in our direction."

Flower was the lone opponent to Wednesday's decision to remove all COVID-19 restrictions.

According to Custer County, in total 164 residents have contracted COVID-19. As for vaccinations, approximately 866 people have received a single dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, while 606 people have received both. Around 5,000 people live within Custer County.

"I'm not too worried about Custer County's numbers cause they were very low and they've stayed low," said Flower. "But we aren't impacted just by Custer County residents we're impacted by an influx of people from other places, both out of state and in-state."

Flower said he isn't opposed to removing the COVID-19 restrictions, however, he wishes the Board of Health would've waited a month. Despite this, Flower says he stands behind the Board's decision.

"The Board of Health will meet again on March 10^th to monitor data and further develop guidelines and recommendations to keep Custer County on course in reestablishing normalcy," said Custer County in a statement to KRDO News Channel 13. "Citizens and businesses are encouraged to continue following their best practices.  The lifting of Custer County level restrictions still allows local businesses to implement safety protocols at their own discretion."