When the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment conditionally approved the Greeley-Evans-Windsor joint application for the 5 Star program, which allows businesses like restaurants and gyms to operate at a relaxed level of COVID-19-related restrictions if certified by a local governing entity, the state required that the municipalities meet a metric they weren’t then currently meeting.
That metric, the incidence rate per 100,000 people, appears close to being met, and, just as importantly, is about to have an adjusted threshold. The city of Greeley now expects it’s very likely that, come Monday, the seven-day clock should start on certified businesses being able to operate at an increased capacity.
“I talked to the state this morning, and they said that Monday is when the new COVID-19 dial will come out and go into effect,” said Dan Frazen, Greeley’s director of emergency management. “That’s when we’ll know a little more.”
The state uses a cumulative metric taken from Greeley, Evans and Windsor zip codes, not including Severance or other municipalities or unincorporated properties within those zip codes, to make the determination. When the municipalities’ join application was conditionally approved Jan. 21, the incidence per 100,000 rate was well over the threshold of 350, but it was dropping at a promising rate.
It appears likely that the statistics are now below the prior threshold, as Greeley’s incidence rate as reported Wednesday was 307.9 per 100,000.
But Frazen said that while those numbers gave the city hope for the near future, what mattered most was the state’s own report card, which was most recently issued Tuesday, and which showed the three municipalities sitting a hair above 350 in that category.
However, whether or not the cumulative incidence rate has fallen enough, if it’s even static, it’s extremely likely the new COVID-19 dial, which Frazen said is expected to elevate the threshold to drop a region from Level Red to Level Orange from 350/100,000 to 500/100,000. Assuming that’s what happens, that change would sit the applicants solidly in the range necessary to allow the 5 Star program-certified businesses to begin operating at Level Yellow capacities — once a seven-day period has elapsed with the metrics in the right range.
“They said starting Monday, if they were in the metric for Orange, we’d have to be there seven days before (the businesses certified) can operate in Yellow,” Frazen said. “That was (Thursday) on various meetings. Could change, but that’s what I’m hearing directly from the manager of the 5 Star program for the state.”
Meanwhile, the city is working closely with interested businesses to get them ready to increase their operations as soon as they’re given the go-ahead by the state. Surely, many businesses in Weld County — which has roundly ignored the state’s guidelines and mandates and which declined to participate in the 5 Star program — have been operating in violation of the state’s parameters for weeks, even months. But for those businesses interested in following the rules, the municipalities, led by Greeley, are being very careful to get them set to go when the time is right.
Ten restaurants are currently certified, eight in Greeley and one each in Evans and Windsor, said city clerk Anissa Hollingshead Thursday. Those businesses are as follows, in Greeley unless otherwise noted:
- Patrick’s Irish Pub, 909 8th Ave.
- Broken Plow Brewery, 4731 W 10th St. Unit G
- Coyote’s Southwestern Grill, 5250 W 9th St. Dr.
- Palomino Mexican Restaurant, 3390 23rd Ave., Evans
- Chili’s Bar and Grill, 3840 W 10th St.
- Old Chicago, 2349 W 29th St.
- Wing Shack Enterprises, 1815 65th Ave., Unit 1
- Wing Shack 10th Street, 4318 9th St. Rd., Unit A1
- Wing Shack Windsor, 1261 Main St., Windsor
“They all know they’re not currently operating with enhanced capacity,” Hollingshead said. “But they’re now promoting the enhanced public health mitigation and we’re communicating with them closely so they all know where we are.”
Frazen emphasized that nothing would officially change Monday. Best-case scenario, he said, the clock would start Monday and allow these businesses and others that join them to operate at Level Yellow capacity starting the following Monday, which is Feb. 15.
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5 Star program update: Likely seven-day clock starts Monday - Greeley Tribune
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