Gunnison County health order includes mask mandate

Order set to continue through end of the year—at least

by Mark Reaman

Facemasks will be part of the new normal throughout Gunnison County.

The latest Gunnison County Health Order was signed Monday, June 8. It requires people to wear masks inside businesses, while using public transportation and outside where social distancing of at least six feet between people cannot be achieved. That is expected to be the case in places such as Elk Avenue when it is busy. The new health order is effective immediately.

The county’s Public Health director Joni Reynolds signed the new order Monday afternoon, and said it is intended to be a long-standing health order that applies until the end of 2020. Gunnison County commissioners approved the order on June 9 in an emergency-based resolution to be ratified at their next meeting on June 16.

Dialing up the Coronameter

The order details the so-called color-coded “Coronameter” risk level indicator that guides the level of restrictions in place based on the current COVID-19 situation. Currently under a Blue risk assessment, the county intends to open up as much as possible while monitoring the spread of the virus through self-reporting, further testing and hospital admissions data.

Blue is the lowest risk level possible until Green, when a vaccine is developed or herd immunity is achieved and things can go totally back to normal.

Yellow comes after Blue and would implement more restrictions while the Orange and Red levels would be a serious situation that required much tighter restrictions.

Red was the level Reynolds described as the peak of the county response in March and April.

The Yellow restriction level would be implemented if three or more symptomatic individuals are testing positive per day for any three days in a seven-day period or if nine or more people self-report as symptomatic in a single day.

Reynolds said while under the Blue category, the people considered “at-risk”—with preexisting health conditions and over the age of 65—can be safe out in the community if taking proper precautions. Those precautions include social distancing of at least six feet, hand washing, enhanced hygiene and wearing a mask indoors and when near other people.

“This is the safest time for the at-risk folks to be outside their home and part of the community. It is important for their mental health,” Reynolds explained.

While the Blue category allows for some differences between what the county mandates and what the state requires, Reynolds has asked for a variance from the state and is optimistic it will be granted, given the county’s current situation.

One example that Reynolds is ready to implement is for indoor gatherings to be capped at 50 persons and outdoor gatherings at 250. Another is to open indoor restaurant capacity based on maintaining social distancing between patrons and not at a percentage level of normal capacity. But the state restaurant requirement right now is 25 people maximum or 50 percent occupancy, so that is the guiding restriction until a county variance is granted.

“I am optimistic the state will grant the variances we have requested but that hasn’t happened yet,” Reynolds said.

Mask reasoning

As for mandating face coverings, knowing that the new rule would be controversial, county officials explained their reasoning on Monday. Acknowledging that wearing masks won’t stop the spread of the coronavirus on its own, the local health officials said it would help slow down the spread when partnered with other restrictions such as social distancing, hand washing and increased hygiene measures.

Dr. John Tarr, Gunnison County chief medical officer and a member of the county science team, admitted that some experts claim masks are useful in slowing down the spread of the virus, while other experts claim masks are useless. “If it helps a little bit, why not?” he said. “They are certainly easy to use with no serious downsides. So I am fully supportive of the new mask requirement. All masks are not the same and they may not be 100 percent effective but if it helps, then it is useful.”

Sean Caffrey, chief executive officer of the Crested Butte Fire Protection District, added that wearing a tight-fitting and secure mask that covers both the mouth and nose is important. He said the masks should be kept clean and hands should be washed before putting them on to be most effective.

Responding to a question, Reynolds said that even though the virus appears to have been stemmed significantly in the last month, “The use of masks is a strategy to help prevent the virus from spreading. It is one more thing likely to make us successful. While the number of cases is currently small, there are still cases of people in the community who could be spreading the virus to the community. Wearing a mask along with taking the other measures like social distancing reduces the risk of the spread as the county opens up more and more. It helps us get and keep businesses open.”

There have been four new positive COVID-19 cases recorded in the valley over the last two weeks. Of the 768 antibody tests conducted, 224 came back positive.

The goal: Stay in the Blue

Reynolds went through the Tenth Amended Order she signed Monday afternoon during a Zoom meeting with elected officials. She explained that because the order is built on a color-coded system with five levels of restrictions ranging from Green to Red, there would hopefully not be the need to issue further amended orders. Instead she will adjust the restriction level based on circumstances on the ground at the time.

“The goal right now is to remain in the Blue level,” she said. “It will keep the community safe and while we still will have some cases of the virus, those infected can be treated locally or moved easily if needed.”

Reynolds said that when communicating with her counterparts in nearby counties and at the state level, there is the possibility that they too may align with Gunnison County’s Coronameter system. She indicated that could come in handy when traveling between Gunnison County and other parts of the state. If, for example, Mesa County is under the Orange or Red level, people may want to avoid Grand Junction.

Public information officer Andrew Sandstrom said one goal of the latest order is to not constantly have to update the local health orders but rather have people understand the different risk levels and what it takes to not move into a more restrictive category. “We will be working on broader outreach to both visitors and residents,” he said. “We want people to understand what each risk level means.”

Reynolds emphasized that she is pursuing variances from state restrictions in an effort “to navigate our destiny based on our risk indicators and the changes in the risk levels within the county. Hopefully it all continues to trend positive, but if it goes the other way and we have to implement tighter restrictions, we will take 24 hours to make those changes.”

Reynolds said things like children’s sporting activities could be more liberal here than statewide. She is also working with both Western Colorado University and the Re1J school district on their potential reopening plans for the fall.

Exemptions and enforcing the new rules

Reynolds said enforcement of the new order would likely be the same as it has been with previous health orders. “The focus has been on education,” she said. “We probably won’t get to 100 percent compliance but we want to get as close as we can. We know that some folks will oppose the idea and not wear masks. But this is meant to protect people and protect the economy to continue in this low-risk Blue level.”

There are some exceptions to the mandate. Children under two years old don’t need to wear a mask and businesses that don’t have contact with the general public can forgo masks in their offices. People who feel they have an existing health condition where wearing a mask would be detrimental would also be exempted. While in a restaurant, facemasks are not required while eating or drinking. And if wearing a mask could cause injury during a particular event, say cooking in a professional kitchen because of the heat factor, facemasks are not necessary.

Reynolds emphasized that the key for an open county is staying at the Blue level. That keeps businesses open and people safe. If stricter levels are put in place, things like the group size will be reduced and at-risk populations will be under more strict stay-at-home orders.

She also noted that the county this week has reached the 90-day mark of being under the emergency public health orders.