Law enforcement has made 5,773 DUI arrests in 2020 during Heat Is On heightened enforcement

STATEWIDE — With holiday excitement growing as Thanksgiving approaches, the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT), Colorado State Patrol (CSP) and local law enforcement agencies statewide will unite for the Thanksgiving Week high-visibility DUI enforcement period from Nov. 20–30. CDOT encourages all Coloradans to celebrate safely by arranging sober rides and following COVID-19 safety guidelines.  

 During the Thanksgiving enforcement period last year, 99 statewide agencies arrested 430 impaired drivers.

“One easy way to ensure a happy holiday is to make plans for safe and sober driving before the festivities begin. Don’t wait until the party starts and then guess who is the “least drunk” or “least high” person in the room,” stated Chief Matthew Packard, Colorado State Patrol. ” Impaired decisions are impulsive with no regard to your future or those traveling around you. This holiday season, your Troopers and local law enforcement agencies will have an increased presence on our roadways looking for dangerous and impaired drivers who failed to plan.”

 The last heightened DUI enforcement period was Halloween weekend, Oct. 29-Nov. 2. During that period law enforcement arrested 198 impaired drivers, with the Colorado Springs Police Department (18 arrests), Denver Police Department (21 arrests), and El Paso County Sheriff’s Office (14 arrests) reporting the highest number of arrests. CSP made 39 arrests. This is a decrease from the 250 arrests made during the same period in 2019.

 Enforcement plans and arrest totals for each law enforcement agency can be found at https://www.codot.gov/safety/traffic-safety-reporting-portal.

 “To prevent the spread of COVID-19, we are asking people to limit social gatherings over the holidays,” said Shoshana Lew, executive director of CDOT. “But if people find themselves in a situation in which they are drinking, they should know it is easy to underestimate their level of impairment and plan for a sober ride home no matter how much they have consumed.”

 CDOT is reminding people to only interact with people from their household this Thanksgiving to help slow the alarming spread of COVID-19. This holiday season is an opportunity to reimagine what togetherness can look like and come up with creative ways to celebrate loved ones while making sure they stay healthy for many more years to come.  Dos and don’ts for Thanksgiving celebrations include: 1) Do cook and eat a special meal with members of your immediate household; 2) Do video chat or talk on the phone with friends and family who don’t live with you; 3) Do wear a mask and keep 6 feet of distance from others while grocery shopping; and 4) Don’t travel to visit family and friends in other households.

During The Heat Is On enforcement periods last year, law enforcement agencies across the state made approximately 7,837 DUI arrests from January through October. During the same timeframe this year, law enforcement has made 5,773 arrests. Although the number of arrests is fewer, the percentage of impaired driving fatalities has stayed the same — about 30% of all traffic fatalities in Colorado are impairment-related. Everyone across the state must do their part to keep themselves and others on the road safe by never driving impaired.

 Following the Thanksgiving enforcement period, CDOT, CSP and local law agencies will conduct the Holiday Parties (Dec. 4-14) and New Year’s Eve (Dec. 29-Jan. 2) enforcement periods to keep motorists safe during the holiday season.

 The Heat Is On campaign runs throughout the year, with 16 specific high-visibility impaired driving enforcement periods centered on national holidays and large public events. Enforcement periods can include sobriety checkpoints, saturation patrols and additional law enforcement on duty dedicated to impaired driving enforcement.  Find out more about the campaign at www.heatisoncolorado.com.

 COVID–19

Safe transportation infrastructure is essential for all of us, particularly for emergency first responders and freight drivers as Colorado navigates the COVID-19 pandemic. With that in mind, CDOT maintenance and construction crews follow social distancing and other health safety measures to reduce COVID-19 exposure on the worksite. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment announced guidelines for construction activities. The public is urged to join the campaign for #DoingMyPartCO by practicing social distancing and wearing face masks. As traffic returns to normal levels, motorists must drive cautiously and heed the speed limit so all of us can return home safely. 

 

 

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DENVER – Governor Polis provided an update on the state’s response to COVID-19 and made several significant announcements.

“I will never give up on Coloradans and I know we have the resolve to do what is necessary to defeat this virus. Cases and hospitalizations have continued rising with over 1100 Coloradans currently hospitalized for COVID,” said Governor Polis. “We simply must do a better job of wearing masks, physically distancing and avoiding social interactions with those outside our households. It’s up to us, Colorado, the time for change is now.”

The Governor announced that given the rise in cases across our state, he has ordered the State Emergency Operations Center to return to level 1. This is the highest level of operation and brings together all state agencies, federal partners and the voluntary organizations that serve the State’s communities in crisis. At this level, the EOC can better coordinate and synchronize the State’s response to the pandemic.

In addition, the Governor shared that he has signed an Executive Order that will clarify the order of operations for surging hospital capacity for the State of Colorado. The first line of defense is for hospitals to increase their capacity internally by opening up unused space and augmenting their staffing. If further capacity is needed, then hospitals must scale back elective procedures. If patient load continues to surge after these steps the state will support the Colorado Hospital Association to address the interhospital transfer system, and if caseload further exceeds these strategies, alternative care sites will be utilized as a last resort. Hospitals need to exhaust all of their resources before alternative care sites are utilized. 

This Executive Order directs all general hospitals to submit a plan to the state with their maximum surge bed count by Wednesday November 18th and a complete surge plan to CDPHE by November 20th, 2020, and must include:

• A detailed plan to potentially increase bed capacity by at least fifty percent (50%) and provide staffing and medical equipment for such increase;
• Strategies to increase the number of ICU beds by transitioning medical and surgical beds to ICU beds if needed. 
• A detailed staffing plan, sufficient to provide adequate care for all beds, including those in use or available to patients other than COVID-19 patients.
• A mandate for elective procedures to be actively managed, reduced and/ or delayed if there is a surge of COVID-19 infections in the county or municipality in which the Facility is located. 

It also directs that all hospitals report the maximum number of staffed ICU beds that can be made available for patients in need of ICU level care, as well as the maximum number of staffed medical and surgical beds available for non ICU hospitalization at 10:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. each day. Hospitals and medical providers are encouraged to continue utilizing telehealth and virtual visits as much as possible. 

Under current public health orders, hospitals that are at more than 70% capacity or have less than a two-week supply of PPE must actively manage their elective procedures to ensure they have adequate capacity for a surge of patients, which has been the law of Colorado since July. Governor Polis shared that he plans to update both the executive orders and public health order to make it clear that hospitals experiencing stress and strain serving patients must begin a mandatory scale back of elective procedures in anticipation for a surge of patients in the coming weeks. 

The Governor extended an Executive Order increasing the Medicaid home health workforce and eliminating cost-sharing for COVID-19 testing and treatment for Medicaid enrollees. The Governor also extended an Executive Order related to criminal justice. Finally, the governor amended and extended an Executive Order concerning multiple fires statewide.  

Governor Polis announced the good news that more than one million Coloradans have opted in to receiving the Colorado Exposure Notification technology which went live on all Android and Apple phones last month. Coloradans can visit addyourphone.com for more information or to sign up.

In order to scale up testing, the State is partnering with COVIDCheck Colorado, part of Gary Community Investments, who has launched seven testing sites around the metro area that are now open to the general public. 

“Through our partnership with the State of Colorado, COVIDCheck Colorado has made fast and accurate COVID-19 testing available to all Coloradans, free of charge, through December 2020,” said Mike Johnston, CEO, Gary Investments.  If you are symptomatic or have been exposed to COVID-19 – Test Now. If you are working in a public facing capacity – Test Regularly. If you feel you need a test for any reason – Test As Needed.”

CovidCheck Colorado test are available at the following locations:

• All City Stadium

1495 S. Race Street, Denver, CO 80210

• Cherry Creek High School

4700 S. Yosemite Street, Greenwood Village, CO 80111

• Instructional Support Facility

5416 S. Riviera Way Aurora, CO 80015

• North High School

3125 Eliot Street, Denver, CO 80211

• Mountain Range High 

12500 Huron Street Westminster, CO 80234

• St. Vrain Valley Schools Innovation Center

33 Quail Road, Longmont, CO 80504

• Aurora Public Schools Professional Learning Center

15771 E. 1st Ave, Aurora, CO 80011

The Governor’s presentation can be viewed here.

 

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DENVER — The Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment will bring on an additional 100 AmeriCorps members to serve in the state’s COVID-19 Containment Response Corps in staggered nine-month terms over the next year.

AmeriCorps members will support case investigation, contact tracing, resource coordination, test result notification, isolation and quarantine monitoring, and other activities to contain the spread of COVID-19 within Colorado.

Conservation Legacy and Community Resource Center will recruit the AmeriCorps members, who will all serve remotely. Each will receive a living allowance and an education award of $4,336.50 upon completing their service.

Priority will be given to interested candidates who apply by Nov. 13 to start on November 30 or December 13 to start service on January 6, 2021. Interested individuals can find more information and apply at colorado.gov/servecolorado.

 

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