Contact: Julie Sutor, Director of Communications

SUMMIT COUNTY – Summit County Public Health announced a revised public health order Friday, largely aligning with new state guidance that allows for additional activities, while maintaining a group gathering size limit of no more than 10 individuals. Requirements for face coverings, physical distancing and other precautions remain in place for businesses, workplaces and individuals.

"We have continued to see additional positive cases of COVID-19, but it is not at a pace that requires us to maintain strict restrictions and prohibitions on commercial, social and civic activities," Summit County Public Health Director Amy Wineland said. "Our health care system has the capacity to care for our resident and visitor populations, we have greatly expanded our contact-tracing and surveillance capabilities, and our community members and businesses are doing a great job adopting new habits and practices that mitigate disease transmission."

Summit County Public Health encourages residents and visitors to stay at home or outdoors as much as possible. Avoiding unnecessary interactions among individuals outside one’s household remains a vital strategy to reduce the likelihood of COVID-19 outbreaks. The new order is effective June 4 and is scheduled to remain in place through June 30.

Summit County has not imposed any closures or prohibitions on any industries or activities beyond the State of Colorado’s restrictions. However, the Summit County Public Health order does mandate the use of face coverings in indoor areas open to the public; face coverings are also required outdoors where 6 feet of physical distancing cannot be maintained.

Summit County’s public health order also requires businesses and workplaces to complete the Summit County Business Physical Distancing Protocol, which helps businesses identify and implement strategies to protect the health of employees and members of the public by reducing opportunities for disease transmission. Businesses, government offices and nonprofit organizations are required to complete the document and post it in a physical location accessible to the public and employees, as well as online.

The Summit County Public Health Order asks all Summit County residents and visitors to make five commitments to containment of COVID-19:

• To maintain 6 feet of physical distance from other individuals
• To wash their hands often, for at least 20 seconds
• To cover their faces in public
• To stay home when sick
• To get tested immediately if they develop COVID-19 symptoms.

All services and activities allowed under the state and local public health orders are subject to strict physical distancing requirements. Workplaces are encouraged to implement symptom monitoring protocols, including temperature checks and symptom screening questions.

On Thursday afternoon, the State of Colorado released new guidance for personal recreation (parks, pools, gyms, fitness facilities and organized recreational sports), outdoor recreation (e.g., non-guided and guided tours, rafting, horseback riding) and places of worship.

Activities that can be done in groups of 10 or fewer, with people physically distanced and taking precautions such as handwashing and mask wearing (when possible) can now occur, unless they are explicitly prohibited in the state public health order.

"Given that we’re now opening Summit County up to visitors, it’s not realistic for us to have restrictions in effect that are substantially different from the state, in terms of which industries are open and how they can operate," Wineland said. "Our alignment with the state is the best approach to maximize everyone’s understanding of and compliance with the latest set of rules.

"One of the most important exceptions to that general approach is our requirement for everyone to wear face coverings in public places, which is scientifically shown to reduce the likelihood of transmission of COVID-19," Wineland added.

To view the new state public health order and guidance on recreation and places of worship, visit www.covid19.colorado.gov/safer-at-home.

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