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DENVER (KDVR) — Colorado mask rules are in limbo as COVID-19 transmission rates in most counties have reached “substantial” or “high” levels, which means those counties are now under federal recommendations to mask indoors.

Some folks in Colorado are on board with it, while others are fed up.

Gov. Jared Polis has not indicated he will renew a mask mandate for state employees, but Colorado representatives in Washington are being required to wear them on the House floor unless they’re recognized to speak.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows Colorado counties with “high” and “substantial” COVID-19 transmission in red and orange, respectively. Both transmission rates come with recommendations to resume indoor masking in those counties. (Credit: covid.cdc.gov)

Boebert rejects House mask mandate

The move announced by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi did not sit well with everyone, including Republican U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert. Multiple reporters on the hill said she was seen throwing a mask back at staffer who offered her one.

“Rep. Boebert refuses to comply with Speaker Pelosi’s anti-science, totalitarian mask mandate. When offered a mask, she returned it with a quick slide across the table,” a Boebert spokesperson said.

Boebert doubled down.

“Americans should not succumb to the bully tactics from extreme leftists. If members of Congress cede our freedoms here, what hope is there for the people we represent?” she said.

If Polis decides to adopt the CDC’s guidance here in Colorado, Boebert’s home county of Garfield would fall in the “high” transmission category, which comes with recommendations for indoor masking.

Tri-County to release new mask guidance

Not everyone is against the idea. Tri-County Health Director John Douglas said the department is prepared to update mask guidance in the coming days, especially for children in schools.

“Given our rising rates and given our pretty good, but not best in vaccine rates, the guidance makes sense, and it probably makes sense to promote it across our counties,” Douglas said.

“The Academy of Pediatrics said, ‘You know what? We’re watching delta, we’re watching vaccines. We think everybody ought to wear masks.’ And they made that recommendation as, if you will, our nation’s experts in the health of children. So I think that’s a recommendation that’s likely to make sense inside our schools,” Douglas said.

Douglas told us Tri-County will be ready to release its new guidelines after the counties meet Wednesday evening to go over which new parameters make the most sense to reinstate right now.