DENVER — The Colorado Department of Health and Public Environment (CDPHE) once again changed its COVID-19 dial dashboard, making it much easier for counties to move to Level Green, the least-restrictive phase a county can achieve on the dial.

As of the morning of Wednesday, March 24, 28 Colorado counties are under Level Green. All other counties are in Level Blue or Yellow, with the exception of Pitkin County, which is in Level Orange.

Denver County remains in Level Yellow, but is able to operate under Level Blue restrictions because of its 5 Star status.

“Coloradans have made great sacrifices to protect ourselves and our communities from COVID-19 over the past year,” CDPHE Executive Director Jill Hunsaker Ryan said in a news release. “While this is still a time for caution, these changes to the Dial better reflect where we are in the pandemic today, and the balance we are trying to strike between disease suppression and economic hardship.” 

This link has a summary of changes in the new dial system, dubbed Dial 3.0.

Some of the main changes are:

• Most restrictions in Level Green have been removed. Bars and indoor events, however, still have to stick to operating at a 50% capacity limit or a 500-person cap, whichever is fewer.
• Counties under Level Blue can open bars with a capacity limit at 25%, or 75 people, whichever is fewer.
• Outdoor events in counties under Level Green or Blue no longer have capacity limits mandated by the state. Individual counties can still set their own capacity limits.
• There is no more state-mandated limits on person gathering sizes
• From CDPHE: "5 Star restaurants and gyms in Levels Blue and Yellow may operate at 100% capacity with 6 feet of distance between parties as a way to provide businesses with increased flexibility, while still limiting indoor mass gatherings. The state expects that maintaining a 6 foot distancing requirement will be a limiting factor for most indoor spaces. "

"While we are all excited to move into this new era, Coloradoans need to remain diligent in practicing basic public health prevention measures, like wearing a face covering, social distancing, and avoiding large indoor gatherings. These continue to be critical to slowing the transmission of COVID-19, and these steps will allow our businesses to open at greater capacities and will keep our kids at school, learning in-person,” Larimer Public Health Executive Director Tom Gonzales said in a news release.

The future of the statewide mask mandate is unclear at this time. “The updated dial does not change Colorado’s current statewide mask mandate,” the release from CDPHE reads.

The current mask mandate, which has been in place since July 2020, is set to expire April 3. “At that time, the Governor may choose to make modifications,” CDPHE said.

The new dial comes at a time when Colorado has fully vaccinated nearly 900,000 people. State health officials hope that the vaccinations will curb community transmission of the virus. 

Colorado has vaccinated key groups like teachers, health care workers, and senior citizens at a high rate, but analysis from NPR shows that Colorado is 32nd in the U.S. when it comes to the percentage of our population that has received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. The state is 15th in the country, however, for the number of people who are fully vaccinated.