Public Health Orders

All people in Colorado must follow the letter and the spirit of these orders. Do not try to bend the rules or find loopholes. It’s up to us all to keep people safe and build up our health care system so we can treat people who are sick and save lives. For more public health and executive orders, review the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment resources page.

Safer-at-home 

• State of Colorado’s Fourth Amended Public Health Order 20-28 Safer at Home (May 26)
• Second Amended Public Health Order 20-29 Limited recommencement of voluntary or elective surgeries and procedures in Colorado (May 26)
• Face Coverings for Critical Businesses (May 18)
• Extending Executive Order D 2020 039 Ordering Workers in Critical Businesses and Critical Government Functions to Wear Non-Medical Face Coverings (May 16)

Social distancing

Public Health Order 20-23 Implementing Social Distancing Measures

• Limits gatherings to no more than 10 people.

Business closings

Public Health Order 20-22 Closing Bars, Restaurants, Theaters, Gymnasiums, Casinos, Non-Essential Personal Services Facilities, and Horse Track and Off-Track Betting Facilities Statewide (includes amendments)

• Closes certain types of businesses where people tend to gather in groups, and restricts food service to carry-out, delivery, drive-up, and room service.

Medical marijuana exams

Executive Order 2020 011 Ordering the Temporary Suspension of Certain Regulatory Statutes Due to the Presence of COVID-19

• Suspends a number of state regulatory statutes

Reduction of in-person workforce

EO DD 20 2013 Ordering Colorado Employers to Reduce In-Person Workforces by 50% Due to the Presence of COVID-19 in the State

Relevant to public health, the order directs the state health department:

• To issue a public health order that identifies what people and facilities must continue to operate at full capacity during regular business hours to make sure Colorado can provide goods and services to its people during the COVID-19 response in the state.
• To determine what businesses are exempt from the executive order.
• To develop a method to certify that businesses that continue operating have employees working no closer than 6 feet of one another during working hours and put other prevention measures in place. The order specifies that there may be penalties for not following the order.

In-person workforce reduction and social distancing

Public Health Order 20-24 Implementing Fifty Percent Reduction in Nonessential Business In-Person Work and Extreme Social Distancing

• Orders employers to reduce the number of people physically present in the workplace at any one time.
• Identifies critical businesses and government functions that are exempt from the order.
• Encourages critical businesses to stay open and follow social distancing requirements.
• Requires that all people observe social distancing requirements to the greatest extent possible. 
• Encourages all people to practice “extreme social distancing.”