At 9 a.m. on Saturday, Denver will be allowed to open just a little more, thanks to improving COVID-19 numbers.
The city will move from orange to yellow on the state's COVID-19 dial. What does that actually mean? Restaurants are allowed to increase capacity from 25 percent indoors to 50 percent or 50 people (150 people in some cases). Last call will move from 10 to 11 p.m., gyms can operate at 50 percent capacity (or 50 people, whichever is fewer). And offices and retail business may operate at 50 percent capacity, though people are still encouraged to work from home.
After peaking at 10 percent in December, the average positivity rate in Denver is now 3.9 percent. Couple that with declining hospitalizations and Mayor Michael Hancock said it was time to give ourselves preliminary pats on the back.
"I want to congratulate the people of Denver for their tremendous and tireless efforts to help us reduce the spread of the virus in our community and get us one step closer to putting this pandemic in the rear-view mirror," Hancock said in a statement announcing the new rules.
Don't start planning your last-minute Super Bowl party yet: The limits on personal gatherings remain the same, which are no more than 10 people from two households.
