Denver officials are considering imposing a curfew in the city to combat the rising cases of COVID-19 and hopefully avoid another stay-at-home order, which many fear would devastate the local economy, several sources have confirmed.
Few other details about the possibility of a curfew were immediately available, but the sources said additional information would come in the next few days.
“Everything is on the table,” said Theresa Marchetta, spokeswoman for Mayor Michael Hancock. “Hospitalizations have skyrocketed.”
Hancock “desperately does not want a stay at home order,” Marchetta said.
The bulk of people spreading the virus are those between the ages of 18 and 35, she said. Social gatherings play a large part while often-asymptomatic carriers bring the virus home to their family members and other people who are more vulnerable.
It’s not yet clear if other municipalities in the metro area will follow suit. Representatives from the Tri-County Health Department, which covers Adams, Arapahoe and Douglas counties, did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
State health officials could also order additional changes beyond those imposed last week when they forced Denver into the second-highest level of COVID-19 restrictions. Health officials said Wednesday that they expect hospitalizations from the virus to surpass the highs seen in April over the next few days.
Should the virus continue to spread at such a fast rate, Colorado’s hospitals could exceed their intensive care unit capacities by late December or sooner, if people spurn public health orders and recommendations and gather over the holidays, experts said.
