Montezuma County plans to follow the Colorado governor’s guidelines for a phased reopening of nonessential businesses, county commissioners said at a livestreamed public meeting Thursday afternoon.

Gov. Jared Polis’ stay-at-home order lifted April 26, but he emphasized that precautions should be taken. The county agreed, and outlined a draft last week allowing retailers to get back to work while keeping in mind the area’s health and hospital capacity.

“Overall, what he has put down here is a very good start to a phased opening and getting back to some kind of economic activity in our community,” Montezuma County Commissioner Keenan Ertel said Thursday. “And I think that’s crucial at this stage, that we start seeing how these businesses and people that are in our community can work within these guidelines, be as safe as possible, keep everybody that comes to that business as safe as possible, and start to regenerate some economic activity in our community.”

County Administrator Shak Powers told The Journal that Montezuma County will not move forward with a plan until approved by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

Montezuma County is using guidelines from the Colorado Association of Local Public Health Officials, which recommends five “triggers” to meet before reopening.

They are:

Cases of the coronavirus decrease for at least 14 days.Hospitals safely treat patients without resorting to crisis standards of care.Tests are performed for everyone with symptoms of COVID-19.Monitor all COVID-19 cases and their contacts.Clear protocol that requires social distancing and assists with case identification.According to commissioners and local health officials, Montezuma County is mostly on track with the trigger points, although officials must monitor the situation and “remain flexible” to meet the community’s needs, said Dr. Kent Aikin, the county’s health department physician.

“If we have adequate testing capacity and also if we have adequate contact tracing capacity, then we can use the testing and the contact tracing to identify who in the community has the illness, and try to isolate those people from the rest of the community, and particularly try to protect people who are high risk who might be exposed to individuals with the illness,” Aikin said at the livestreamed meeting.

Southwest Health System has operated a drive-thru flu and COVID-19 clinic for over a month. Right now, nasal swab specimens are taken by Southwest and sent to an off-site facility for a COVID-19 test. Results usually take two to seven days, according to Southwest Health System.

Southwest is working to buy testing equipment, so that the hospital can conduct in-house tests and get results in two to four hours, according to health officials.

Hospital capacity depends largely on the severity of cases. Intense cases will pull more staff and resources, Aikin said.

“We also need to keep in mind that there are other illnesses in the community that we routinely have taken care of, and that we still want to have some ability to take care of,” he said.

The draft plan outlines two phases for reopening.

Phase 1 includes “lifting restrictions that have low risk for community spread of COVID-19 and have medium to high benefit for the residents of Montezuma County.”

Phase 2 would further loosen restrictions once certain not-yet-specified triggers are met.

Phase 1 of the plan builds off Polis’ “safer-at-home” precautions, which state:

Vulnerable populations and older adults must stay home unless necessary.No group gatherings of more than 10 people.Critical businesses will remain open with strict precautions.Retail businesses may open for curbside delivery and phased-in public opening with strict precautions.Nightclubs, gyms and spas will remain closed.Elective medical and dental procedures begin, with strict precautions to ensure adequate personal protective equipment and the ability to meet critical care needs.Personal services (salons, tattoo parlors, dog grooming, personal training, etc.) will open with strict precautions.K-12 schools and postsecondary institutions will continue to suspend in-person instruction for the 2019-20 school year.Telecommuting continues for offices.And beginning May 4, up to 50% of staff can work in person, while following social distancing procedures.Under Polis’ guidelines, restaurants and bars are still prohibited from opening in-person service. However, Montezuma County’s draft plan proposes that officials could consider helping restaurants appeal to the CDPHE to allow 10 or fewer dine-in guests, with tables physically spread out and curbside pickup still available.

“The County will be working with the municipalities, chambers, health department, hospital and hopefully the tribe to draft a plan on behalf of the currently closed sectors of our economy to get them back to work safely,” Powers told The Journal.

Also on Thursday, Susan Lisak from the Tri-City Chambers of Commerce presented data from two surveys, one for business owners and one for community members. The data reflected business owners’ comfort levels with reopening and their needs, along with community members’ anticipated activities and shopping habits in coming months.

Survey results are expected to be released this week to business owners, Lisak said.

ealvero@the-journal.com