Today, I joined CU President Mark Kennedy, CU Denver student David Holguin, DU undergraduate student body Vice President Dajah Brooks, and Park Ranger Michelle Seuber to discuss the upcoming Labor Day weekend. I want to emphasize that the most important thing for us to do right now is to stay the course, be safe, be smart, and avoid large groups. Similar to the Fourth of July holiday weekend, we all have to take precautions to prevent a spike in Coronavirus cases.
Currently, Colorado is doing well limiting our Coronavirus cases. Earlier this week, we hit our lowest percentage of positivity yet— close to 2%. In March, we were seeing positivity rates around 15-20%; some states, like Alabama, have 30% positivity rates.
This is cause for celebration, but not for letting our guard down. While we are doing better than certain areas, the most effective states in the country are getting their positivity percentage rates closer to 1%— which should be our ultimate goal. However, these encouraging numbers could be wiped out next week if people are reckless over the holiday weekend.
Please do not ruin this for our local communities and our state as a whole. It is up to all of us as individuals to maintain these numbers.
We know this is a volatile virus, and the lower we can get transmission rates, the better chance we will have in sustaining our reopening progress and getting kids back to in-person school. I am stressing all of this because I hope it encourages people to maintain the precautions they are currently taking through the holiday weekend. What we have been doing is working and we have to double down on our efforts— washing our hands often, avoiding large crowds, maintaining social distancing, and wearing a mask.
As we enjoy the vast, great outdoors we also must take precautions to protect these beautiful spaces. Of course, keep groups small on trails and within campsites, but also heed the fire ban. Last week the Pine Gulch fire became the largest in our state's history and there are a handful of other wildfires still burning. Please, as you are working to keep your neighbors safe by wearing a mask and social distancing, work to keep our states’ forests safe by refraining from lighting fires.
Overall, I am immensely proud of our state--from our doctors, nurses, and other health care workers, to each individual Colorado resident. Most of us are doing our part to lower our Coronavirus transmissions.
However, there are clear notable exceptions. I was disheartened and frankly angry to hear of a few fraternities at CU Boulder holding large parties these past few weeks. Most students, including those who are members of the Greek System, are doing the right thing; the vast majority of our students in Colorado are young leaders who care about their community and know their actions have an impact on others. As your Governor, I want to express my thanks to those students following public health orders, but a few careless students can set a whole community back. A simple decision to attend a party on campus can end with unintentional spreading of COVID-19 to not only other students but also at-risk populations in the Boulder community.
College students: Think about your peers in your classrooms and dormitories, your professors, the custodial staff, and dining hall workers on campus. They could be hurt by your disregard for public health orders. I hope students across the state hear me loud and clear, as this is not a joke. People are dying throughout the country. In Colorado, we’ve lost nearly 2,000 people to COVID. Every one of these deaths is a tragedy and we all must do our part to stop the spread of this virus.
This Labor Day weekend, keep in mind that your individual actions can affect your family, your neighbors, and our state's forests. It’s up to all of us to be responsible and disciplined. Large gatherings this weekend will cause an increase in transmission rates and make it harder for our students to go back to in-person learning. We also cannot allow reckless actions to ignite more wildfires, which have already ravaged more than 125,000 acres of our forests.
Have a safe and healthy Labor Day weekend, Colorado -- and make sure to maintain the good habits that have kept our COVID-19 numbers down.
Sincerely,
