News from this neck of the woods, Governor Polis has just (finally) issued a statewide mask order for Colorado. He specifies that cities/counties/etc can require stricter rules, but provides the baseline for the whole state.

Today, I announced that a statewide mask requirement will go into effect at midnight tonight, mandating that every Coloradan older than 10 wear a mask or a face cover in all indoor public spaces, unless that individual has a medical condition where wearing a mask would put them at risk.
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The ordinance I signed today mandates mask-wearing for those older than 10 in all indoor public spaces. This includes using or waiting for any form of public transportation, a taxi service, car service, or ride-sharing service.
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Furthermore, businesses are now required to post signage mandating mask-wearing, and must refuse entry or service to people not wearing masks or face covers. To put it simply: no mask, no service.

There are, of course, some common sense exceptions to the mandate, including:

Eating at a food service establishment
Exercising alone
Receiving a service where the mask would interfere with the service like a facial or a beard trimming
Public safety personnel such as law enforcement, firefighters, or EMTs
Religious officiants
Speaking to a televised audience
Having to remove your mask for purposes of identification

This is a relief. The local Tri-County health dept. issued a mask order effective July 24th but allowed cities to opt-out if they chose. Apparently there were five votes on Centennial’s city council who were likely to vote for that, so we’ve been calling reps and sending emails to urge common flippin’ sense.

As the Gov points out, we’re seeing a steady rise in cases that looks like the pattern some of the neighboring states saw shortly before they exploded. Would be nice if we could short-circuit that, please.