Stating his frustration with young people getting drunk in social settings and increasing the spread of the coronavirus, Gov. Jared Polis on Tuesday ordered that last call for alcohol at establishments statewide shall, for at least 30 days, be 10 p.m.
“The state of inebriation in a public place is inconsistent with social distancing,” Polis said at a news conference.
The Colorado Restaurant Association was quick to criticize the governor’s move.
“We’re extremely disappointed in this order. This is a major blow to an industry that is already suffering gravely,” said Sonia Riggs, the association’s CEO. “We’d like to see the data that backs up this decision, especially as it’s our understanding that restaurants account for just 4% of the outbreaks in this state.”
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s database shows 16 sit-down restaurants — a category that includes taverns and pubs — among the 415 designated coronavirus outbreaks since March, or about 4% of the total. A combined 65 cases of COVID-19 were linked to those restaurant outbreaks.
But in June and July, as restaurants and bars began reopening following state-ordered closures, and virus cases started to increase again, sit-down restaurants accounted for a greater share of new outbreaks: 14 of 127, or about 11% of the total. The restaurant outbreaks in June and July accounted for 56 cases — or most of the total COVID-19 infections related to restaurant outbreaks since March.
That data is limited to officially designated outbreaks, however, and state health officials have not said how many COVID-19 cases they believe can be tied to transmission at Colorado’s bars and restaurants.
In late June, Polis ordered bars and nightclubs to close again in Colorado because of rising case numbers, but establishments that also serve food were allowed to stay open, and there are counties that have state variances allowing bars to remain open as well. It’s not clear how many of Colorado’s bars have stayed open since that order.
At Tuesday’s news conference, Polis noted that Colorado’s bar traffic was down about 80% in April and May compared to 2019 levels. In June, though, that increased, with the month down about 50% over last year.
By early July, Polis said, bar traffic had leveled off, dipping slightly after the Fourth of July weekend.
“A very bad law”
The usual last-call time in Colorado is 2 a.m., and Polis also said that, in non-virus times, he disagrees with that rule. He called upon the state legislature to allow local communities to set their own rules and, say, let bars and restaurants serve until 4 a.m. if that’s what local officials deem appropriate.
“We have a very bad law in Colorado that says last call has to be 2 a.m. I don’t know why,” Polis said. “This is simply saying instead of 2, temporarily, last call is 10 p.m.”
The Senate majority leader, Boulder Democrat Steve Fenberg, said he thinks it’s unlikely that the legislature will look to change the state’s last-call rules any time soon.
“It’s not something that I think rises to the top of the issues we should work on, and it’s not, to be honest, a conversation that I think I or other legislators have spent a lot of time on,” said Fenberg, who co-owns a bar in Silver Plume. “Personally, I think the current law is working fine. I don’t think there are hordes of constituents begging to stay at a bar past 2 a.m.”
Polis emphasized that while he’d like to change the law soon, now is not the time to relax rules. The 20-29 age group is leading the spread of infection in Colorado, the state reports, and overall virus cases and hospitalizations have roughly doubled in the last two weeks. The number of new COVID-19 infections in Colorado has increased for five straight weeks following a long decline.
“We want to send the right message here,” Polis said, defending his last-call order, “as well as directly impact the piece that’s occurring as a result of late-night inhibitions.”
Colorado has not seen exponential recent virus spread like Arizona, Texas and others, but it’s nearing a tipping point and public health experts here worry the state’s ICU bed capacity could be exceeded come September.
“Four of your besties”
Polis, who last week ordered everyone in Colorado to wear a mask in public indoor spaces until at least mid-August, said that discouraging socializing among “inebriated” people in larger groups is a key step in the effort to avert the tipping point.
He urged people against partying in larger groups.
“Just have four of your besties over,” Polis said.
Directing addressing young people, Polis also said, “This is not the summer to party. It’s the summer of no parties.”
Polis did not announce when, exactly, the new 10 p.m. rule will go into effect, but he did say he expects to formalize the order in the next couple days.
Denver Post reporter Meg Wingerter contributed to this report.
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