Jefferson County Reports Surge Of Coronavirus Cases

JEFFERSON COUNTY, CO — Jefferson County has seen a "sharp increase" in coronavirus cases over the past two weeks, public health officials warned. The county's variance is at risk of being rescinded.

In the two weeks before June 7, 317 cases were reported in the county. Between July 15 and July 28, 671 cases were confirmed, which exceeds the 580 bi-weekly threshold required to keep the variance.

If the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment rescinds Jeffco's variance, many businesses would be forced to scale back their operations and services, and some may need to close.

Many of the new cases are people who've traveled out-of-state to regions with high COVID-19 rates, Jeffco public health investigators said. Other cases have been traced to gatherings such as barbecues, house parties, birthday parties and weddings. At least half of the new cases have been among people ages 20 to 39, officials said.

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If the variance is rescinded, major impacts would include:

• The gathering size in Jefferson County will be reduced to 10 people, unless another exception in the state’s PHO 20-28 applies (e.g., events, places of worship, etc.).
• Athletic fields would have to reduce their capacity to no more than 25 players per field.
• Gyms would have to reduce their capacity to only 25 percent or 50 people per room, whichever is fewer. "Smaller, independent gyms may really be hurt by this because we have heard that generally, having to go to less than 50 percent capacity makes it nearly impossible for them to stay open," health officials said.
• Breweries, distilleries and similar businesses would have to close if they do not serve food (currently, these types of businesses may operate under the variance without serving food, as long as they follow the state’s restaurant guidelines).

Jefferson County also submitted a request June 18 for a second variance, which would further open businesses; however, due to the rise in cases across the state, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment has put a pause on reviewing variance applications.