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Colorado governor orders schools to stay closed until at least April 30, will address stay-at-home extension later

Gov. Jared Polis said he would wait to decide whether to extend his stay-at-home order, which was issued last week and is set to expire on April 11

Jesse Paul / The Colorado Sun
Gov. Jared Polis speaks to reporters about the state’s coronavirus pandemic on March 30, 2020.
Jesse Paul / The Colorado Sun

Gov. Jared Polis on Wednesday said all Colorado schools will be closed to in-person learning until at least April 30, extending an earlier order by about a week.

The initial order, announced on March 18, was to expire on April 17.

Polis said the extension is needed to continue to delay when COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, peaks in Colorado. This will allow hospitals to prepare for a surge in patients.



“Right now, we simply don’t have the medical capacity — the hospital beds, the ICU units, the ventilators,” Polis said at a news conference at the state’s emergency operations center in Centennial.

There are about 3,300 confirmed coronavirus cases in Colorado, though officials warn there are likely many times more that infected with the disease. At least 77 deaths have been attributed to the outbreak.



More than 600 people are hospitalized with the disease. State officials said Wednesday they are looking at patient numbers to peak between sometime in April and July.

Polis said he would wait to decide whether to extend his stay-at-home order, which was issued last week and is set to expire on April 11. He said, however, that it’s likely to be extended, though he hopes it doesn’t have to be in effect until April 30.

You can read the rest of the Colorado Sun’s story here.


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