Denver Updates Mask Order: What To Know

DENVER, CO — Denver updated its mask order Thursday to allow small groups to gather in some low-risk settings without covering their faces. The updated order will take effect Friday, Mayor Michael Hancock said.

“There’s still a lot of work to be done and thousands more people to get vaccinated,” the Mayor said. “We’re winning, but the game isn’t over. It’s not time to declare victory.”

The order was revised to align with the state's face covering order, with a few exceptions.

Masks will still be required in Denver:

• In schools, childcare centers, indoor children’s camps, personal service facilities, hospitals, nursing homes and jails.
• In public indoor settings where 10 or more unvaccinated people, or people of unknown vaccination status, are present.
• In certain public-serving indoor spaces, such as grocery stores, large retail stores and local government buildings.
• Children in Denver ages 3 and older will still be required to wear masks indoors.
• Following federal rules, face-coverings will still be required on public transportation such as trains, planes, buses and other vehicles.

Masks will not be required:

• In indoor settings with nine or fewer people, regardless of vaccination status, except for those settings listed above that still require masks.
• In controlled indoor settings, such as an office that does not serve the public or a private event, of 10 or more people where 80 percent of people have shown proof of vaccination.

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Around 63 percent of eligible Denver residents have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine, and 45 percent are fully inoculated, Hancock said.

" Despite these positive strides, vaccine resistance and vaccine hesitancy, particularly in communities of color and among young adults, is a troubling trend across the country," the city said in a news release.

Tied to President Joe Biden’s goal of getting 70 percent of American adults vaccinated with at least one dose by July 4, Hancock issued his own challenge for Denver.

“Let’s show the country how it’s done by getting 60 percent of all Denver residents vaccinated with one dose by June 1, and 70 percent by July 1,” Hancock said.

More than 1,300 health care providers and clinics in Colorado are offering vaccines:

Colorado Coronavirus Vaccine Hub: Where, How To Get Immunized