Boulder County Not Eligible For State's 5-Star Program: Officials

Boulder CO

17 December, 2020

2:35 PM

Description

BOULDER COUNTY, CO — Boulder County is not currently eligible for Colorado's new 5 Star Certification Program, county public health officials announced Thursday. The program was launched to help businesses speed up their reopening process if they can prove they have enhanced COVID-19 protocols. To be eligible for the program, a county needs to prove it's seen a two-week sustained decline in cases, a positivity percentage lower than 10 percent or "demonstrably improving over the past two weeks," fewer than 90 percent of intensive care unit beds in use, and steady or declining regional hospitalizations, public health officials said. "We are extremely aware that many of our businesses are hanging by a thread and others have had to close," Boulder County Public Health said in a statement. "This program is being launched at a challenging time when we are concerned about increased cases associated with gatherings with the winter holiday, prior to kids going back to school in person, and certainly a grave concern about what may happen on New Year's Eve," the statement read. "If folks don't gather over the holidays, and we don't see a spike in new cases, it will give businesses in our county a chance to launch the program as long as cases and hospitalizations continue to decline and our percent positivity rate remains below 10%." Like what you're reading? Invite a friend to subscribe to free Boulder newsletters and real-time email alerts. Because county public health agencies are "being asked to achieve demanding and historic objectives with a high burden of contact tracing and disease control, and to distribute vaccine at a level never before required in such a short amount of time, the program will not be administered or coordinated by Boulder County Public Health," the agency said in a news release. "If the Boulder County community chooses to move forward with the program, Boulder County Public Health will participate as a member of the administrative committee, but another entity would organize and be responsible for the program." The agency is working with Boulder Chamber and other economic organizations to determine how to establish an administrative committee that would best implement the program, officials said. "We are thankful for the efforts of Boulder County Public Health in the exploration of a business certification program amidst all their other COVID-19 related responsibilities," said John Tayer, Boulder Chamber president and CEO. "They recognize that our small businesses are struggling significantly due to ongoing operations restrictions. Programs like this can be a critical lifeline, helping our businesses do their business while protecting public health." The next step in developing the program in Boulder County is to create an administrative committee that includes stakeholders such as local chambers of commerce, nonprofits, local leaders, and industry members, which would include a staff member from Boulder County Public Health, the agency said. The committee will need to find funding to implement the program, determine how compliance and enforcement will be conducted, and then apply to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, officials said.