Jefferson County Restaurants Can Open with Strict Precautions Beginning May 27

Image from Jefferson County Public Health

From Jefferson County Public Health:

The State of Colorado announced that additional Colorado businesses can begin to reopen with strict precautions to protect public health and safety. According to an extended Safer-at-Home Executive Order, restaurants can open beginning May 27. Jefferson County Public Health (JCPH) also extended its Safer-at-Home public health order to align with the state.

“We support this next step permitting our food establishments to reopen to the public following the state’s science-based guidelines,” said Dr. Mark B. Johnson, MD, MPH, executive director at JCPH. “We appreciate the great efforts of our business community to implement appropriate precautions thus far, and we anticipate that restaurant operators across Jefferson County will take all necessary precautions and be vigilant in implementing all aspects of the new public health orders.”

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) has released guidance to help restaurants prepare to reopen, including required precautions for both pick-up services and on-premises dining (indoor and outdoor), available here.

Requirements include but are not limited to:

• Indoor dine-in service can be held at 50 percent of the posted occupancy code limit and a maximum of 50 patrons, whichever is less.
• Patrons in different parties must be a minimum of 6 feet apart.
• Party size must be limited to eight people or fewer.
• All employees must wear face coverings.
• Employees must deep clean and disinfect all shared surfaces between parties/at each turnover.

Additionally, customers are strongly encouraged to take precautions when visiting restaurants:

• Do not congregate and follow all instructions to keep space between you and others not in your party.
• Wear a facial covering when not eating or drinking.
• Use contact-less payment options whenever possible.
• Vulnerable populations should continue to use curbside delivery/pick-up options.

“Consumers play an important role in helping our restaurants reopen more safely, too,” Johnson said. “As we take these steps to reopen our economy, we need the community to continue following basic public health recommendations, including wearing a face covering when in public, always staying at least 6 feet away from others, practicing good hygiene, and isolating and getting tested if experiencing symptoms of COVID-19.”

The state also announced that private camp sites are permitted to open beginning May 25, and children’s day camps and youth sports camps can open on June 1. (Residential overnight camps will be closed in June.) JCPH has rescinded public health order 20-003 to align local policies around youth sports with the state; therefore, these activities will be permitted in Jefferson County beginning June 1 as well.

For more information about Safer-at-Home and guidance for a variety of businesses and industries including restaurants,children’s day camps and youth sports camps, visit covid19.colorado.gov/safer-at-home or www.jeffco.us/safer-at-home.

Joel Newton

Joel has been a resident of Edgewater, Colorado with his family since 2012. He is the Executive Director of local education nonprofit Edgewater Collective and Editor of the Edgewater Echo.