COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Colorado Gov. Jared Polis issued an executive order Wednesday ordering Coloradans to stay at home due to the coronavirus outbreak.
>> Read the executive order issued by the governor
On Thursday morning, state officials amended the order to add several more critical services, who are exempt from the order.
>> Read the updated public health order issued Thursday morning
According to the public health order, Colorado residents may leave home only to perform the following necessary activities:
- Engaging in activities or perform tasks essential to their health and safety, or to the health and safety of their family or household members, including, but not limited to, pets and livestock, such as obtaining medical supplies, walking your dog, feeding barnyard animals, obtaining durable medical equipment, obtaining medication, visiting a healthcare professional, or obtaining supplies they need to work from home.
- Obtaining necessary services or supplies for themselves and their family or household members, or to deliver those services or supplies to others, such as food, pet supply, other household consumer products, and products or equipment necessary to maintain the safety, sanitation, and essential operation of a residence.
- Engaging in outdoor activity, such as walking, hiking, nordic skiing, snowshoeing, biking or running. For purposes of outdoor activity, State parks will remain open to the public to engage in walking, hiking, biking, running, and similar outdoor activities but all playgrounds, picnic areas, other similar areas conducive to public gathering, and attended areas shall be closed. For other parks, check with the local jurisdiction and follow any requirements for that jurisdiction. Additionally, the permitted outdoor activities do not include activities that would violate the Social Distancing Requirements.
- Performing work providing essential products and services for a Critical Business or Critical Government Function as defined below, or to otherwise carry out activities permitted in this PHO.
- Caring for a family member, a vulnerable person, or pet in another household, or to care for livestock kept at a location other than an individual’s home.
- Necessary Travel. For purposes of this Order, travel is necessary for any of the following purposes: (1) providing or accessing Necessary Activities, Minimum Basic Operations, Critical Government Functions, and Critical Businesses; (2) receiving materials for distance learning, for receiving meals, and any other related services from educational institutions; (3) returning to a place of Residence from outside the jurisdiction; (4) travel required by law enforcement or court order; (5) non-residents returning to their place of Residence.
“Critical Business” means:
- Healthcare Operations, Including:
● Hospitals, clinics, and walk-in health facilities
● Medical and dental care, including ambulatory providers
● Research and laboratory services
● Medical wholesale and distribution
● Home health care companies, workers and aides
● Pharmacies
● Pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies
● Behavioral health care providers
● Veterinary care and livestock services
● Nursing homes, residential health care, or congregate care facilities
● Medical supplies and equipment manufacturers and providers, including
durable medical equipment technicians and suppliers
● Blood banks - Critical Infrastructure, Including:
● Utilities and electricity, including generation, transmission, distribution
and fuel supply
● Road and railways
● Oil and gas extraction, production, refining, storage, transport and
distribution
● Public water and wastewater
● Telecommunications and data centers
● Transportation and infrastructure necessary to support critical businesses
● Hotels, and places of accommodation
● Businesses and organizations that provide food, shelter, social services,
and other necessities of life for economically disadvantaged, persons with
access and functional needs, or otherwise needy individuals
● Food and plant cultivation, including farming crops, livestock, food
processing and manufacturing, animal feed and feed products, rendering,
commodity sales, and any other work critical to the operation of any
component of the food supply chain
● Any business that produces products critical or incidental to the construction or operation of the categories of products included in this subsection - Critical Manufacturing, Including:
● Food processing, manufacturing agents, including all foods and beverages
● Chemicals
● Computers and computer components
● Medical equipment, components used in any medical device, supplies or
instruments
● Pharmaceuticals
● Sanitary products
● Telecommunications
● Microelectronics/semiconductor
● Agriculture/farms
● Household paper products
● Any business that produces products critical or incidental to the
processing, functioning, development, manufacture, packaging, or
delivery of any of the categories of products included in this subsection
● Any manufacturing necessary to support a Critical Business - Critical Retail, Including:
● Grocery stores including all food and beverage stores
● Farm and produce stands
● Gas stations and convenience stores
● Restaurants and bars (for take-out/delivery only as necessary under
Executive Order D 2020 011 and PHO 20-22, as amended)
● Marijuana dispensary (only for the sale of medical marijuana or curbside
delivery pursuant to Executive Order D 2020 011)
● Liquor stores
● Firearms stores
● Hardware, farm supply, and building material stores
● Establishments engaged in the retail sale of food and any other household
consumer products (such as cleaning and personal care products)
● Establishments engaged in the sale of products that support working from
home - Critical Services, Including:
● Trash, compost, and recycling collection, processing and disposal
● Mail and shipping services, and locations that offer P.O. boxes
● Self-serve laundromats and garment and linen cleaning services for critical
businesses
● Building cleaning and maintenance
● Child care services
● Automobile rental, auto supply and repair (including retail dealerships that
include repair and maintenance, but not in person retail sales)
● Warehouse/distribution and fulfillment, including freight distributors
● Funeral homes, crematoriums, and cemeteries, with strict compliance with
Social Distancing Requirements for employees and any attendees of
services
● In-person pastoral services for individuals who are in crisis or in need of
end of life services provided social distancing is observed to the greatest
extent possible. Houses of worship may remain open, however, these
institutions are encouraged to implement electronic platforms to conduct
services whenever possible or to conduct smaller (10 or fewer
congregants), more frequent services to allow strict compliance with
Social Distancing Requirements.
● Storage for Critical Businesses
● Animal shelters, animal boarding services, animal rescues, zoological
facilities, animal sanctuaries, and other related facilities - News Media
● Newspapers
● Television
● Radio
● Other media services - Financial and Professional Institutions, Including:
● Banks and credit institutions
● Insurance and payroll
● Services related to financial markets
● Professional services, such as legal, title companies, or accounting
services, real estate appraisals and transactions - Providers of Basic Necessities to Economically Disadvantaged Populations, Including:
● Homeless shelters and congregate care facilities
● Food banks
● Human services providers whose function includes the direct care of
patients in State-licensed or funded voluntary programs; the care,
protection, custody and oversight of individuals both in the community
and in State-licensed residential facilities; those operating community
shelters and other critical human services agencies providing direct care or
support - Construction, Including but not Limited To:
● Housing and housing for low-income and vulnerable people
● Skilled trades such as electricians, plumbers
● Other related firms and professionals for who provide services necessary
to maintain the safety, sanitation, and critical operation of residences and
other Critical Businesses or Critical Government Functions, and other
essential services - Defense
● Defense, security, and intelligence-related operations supporting the State
of Colorado, local government, the U.S. Government or a contractor for
any of the foregoing
● Aerospace operations
● Military operations and personnel
● Defense suppliers - Critical Services Necessary to Maintain the Safety, Sanitation and Critical Operations of Residences or Other Critical Businesses, Including:
● Law enforcement
● Fire prevention and response
● Building code enforcement
● Security
● Emergency management and response
● Building cleaners or janitors
● General maintenance whether employed by the entity directly or a vendor
● Automotive and bicycle repair
● Disinfection
● Snow removal - Vendors that Provide Critical Services or Products, Including Logistics and Technology Support, Child Care and Services:
● Logistics
● Technology support for online and telephone services
● Child care programs and services
● Government owned or leased buildings
● Critical Government Functions - Educational Institutions that Provide Critical Services to Students and the General Public:
● K-12 public school and private schools for the purpose of providing meals,
housing, facilitating or providing materials for distance learning, and
providing other essential services to students, provided that Social
Distancing Requirements are observed.
● Postsecondary institutions, including private and public colleges and
universities, for the purpose of facilitating distance learning or performing
essential functions, provided that Social Distancing Requirements are
observed, such as security, medical and mental health services, housing,
food services, and critical research.
“Critical Government Function” means:
● Public safety (police stations, fire and rescue stations, correctional institutions, emergency vehicle and equipment storage, and, emergency operation centers)
● Emergency response
● Judicial branch operations, including attorneys if necessary for ongoing trials and required court appearances, unless appearances can be done remotely
● Legislative and executive branch functions
● Emergency medical (hospitals, ambulance service centers, urgent care centers having emergency treatment functions, and non-ambulatory surgical structures but excluding clinics, doctors offices, and non-urgent care medical structures that do not provide these functions)
● Designated emergency shelters
● Communications (main hubs for telephone, broadcasting equipment for cable systems, satellite dish systems, cellular systems, television, radio, and other emergency warning systems, but excluding towers, poles, lines, cables, and conduits)
● Public utility plant facilities for generation and distribution (hubs, treatment plants, substations and pumping stations for water, power and gas, but not including towers, poles, power lines, buried pipelines, transmission lines, distribution lines, and service lines)
● Transportation. Airlines, taxis, transportation network providers (such as Uber and Lyft), vehicle rental services, paratransit, and other private, public, and commercial transportation and logistics providers necessary for Necessary Activities
● Transportation infrastructure (aviation control towers, air traffic control centers, and emergency equipment aircraft hangars), critical road construction and maintenance
● Hazardous material safety
● Services to at-risk populations and Vulnerable Individuals
● Any government service required for the public health and safety, government functionality, or vital to restoring normal services
All services included in the public health order are subject to social distancing requirements, and are still encouraged to implement telework options and staggered schedules when possible.