Larimer County Enables Emergecy Alert System for Stay at Home Order

The following message was sent via EAS to mobile devices and other area systems.

The following has been copied from Larimer County’s website, which was difficult to access at the time of this writing (https://www.larimer.org/health/stay-at-home-order):

On 3/25/2020, Public Health Director Tom Gonzales issued a Stay at Home order requiring all individuals in Larimer County to stay at home except for food and essential services to further reduce the spread of illness in our community. The order is effective March 26th at 5PM through April 17th.

Purpose of the Order

The has been issued based on evidence of increasing occurrence of COVID-19 within Larimer County, scientific evidence and best practices about the most effective approaches to slow the transmission of communicable diseases generally and COVID-19 specifically, and to protect those most at risk of severe illness and death from COVID-19. The purpose of any stay-at-home directive is for the majority of people in our community to remain at home and stay well so that our medical systems are able to continue to provide care to the most critical patients from COVID-19 and to reduce the number of days until the community reaches the peak transmission.

Larimer County Officials estimate transmission has already been reduced based on previous measures taken in Larimer County and Colorado, such as closing restaurants and bars for dine-in service, halting personal services in hair salons and spas and bans of gatherings of more than ten individuals.  If no further measures were taken, Larimer County officials believe it would take months to slow the spread of transmission in the community.

However, with the addition of this Stay-at-Home Order, which directs the community to leave the house or place of residence only for food and essential services, public health officials believe they could achieve a substantial decrease in transmission. A Stay-at-Home order now can dramatically decrease the length of restrictions in Larimer County. 

Intent of this Order

Read the Full Stay-at-Home Order Here

While some will call this directive, “shelter-in-place,” it is far from the shelter-in-place of acute emergencies, like for active shootings or tornadoes. The purpose of such an order is to enforce physical distancing between people to slow and stop the spread of the virus. There is nothing inherently dangerous about going outside but rather in being close to other people who are ill, whether they know it or not.

During a stay-at-home order you are able to:

• Go to the pharmacy to get medication.
• Get groceries for you and anyone that lives in your home.
• Have a take-out meal from your favorite local restaurant.
• Get food or supplies for your pet.
• Take your dog around the block or go for a hike — as long as you are keeping your distance from others.
• Enjoy City and County open spaces
• Take groceries and supplies to your at-risk parents, grandparents, or neighbors
• Get margaritas-to-go from your faorite watering hole! (please enjoy responsibly from home)

Essential Activities and Business

The shelter-in-home order that Larimer County is adopting requires residents to remain in place at their homes EXCEPT for essential activities, including:

• Tasks essential to maintain health and safety, such as obtaining medicine or seeing a doctor.
• Getting necessary services or supplies for themselves or their family or household members, such as getting food and supplies, pet food and supplies necessary for staying at home.
• Caring for a family member in another household.
• Caring for the elderly, minors, dependents, people with disabilities or other vulnerable persons.

The shelter-in-home order also does not apply to those going to work in an essential business or essential government function, including:

• Health care operations, including home health workers.
• Pharmacies, health care supply stores and health care facilities.
• Grocery stores, food banks, convenience stores and liquor stores.
• Restaurants offering take-out and curbside services.
• Businesses that provide necessities of life for economically disadvantaged individuals and shelter facilities.
• Gas stations and auto repair facilities.
• Essential Critical Infrastructure, including the construction of housing, operation of public transportation and utilities.
• Banks
• Garbage and recycling collection
• Hardware stores, plumbers, electricians and other service providers necessary to maintain the safety, sanitation and essential operation of residences and other essential businesses.
• Educational institutions, for the purposes of facilitating distance learning.
• Laundromats and laundry service providers.
• Businesses that ship or deliver groceries, food and goods directly to residences
• Childcare facilities providing services that enable essential employees to go to work.
• Roles required for any essential business to “maintain basic operations,” which include security, payroll and similar activities.

Non-Essential Businesses Required to Close

• Dine-in restaurant services
• Bars and nightclubs
• Non-essential personal services such as hair and nail salons, massage and tattoo parlors, and spas
• Entertainment venues
• Gyms and fitness studios
• Public events and gatherings
• Convention Centers
• Business not defined as essential