DENVER (KDVR) — The City and County of Denver plans to increase enforcement of COVID-19 restrictions this weekend, Mayor Michael Hancock said Friday.
Hancock said officers will be making sure bars don’t serve alcohol past 10 p.m. and others will watch for people violating mask orders.
Last week, two dozen citations were issued to people not wearing face coverings.
“Since May, enforcement teams have issued 30 citations, mostly for face covering violations. But they have issued 12,416 warnings. A citation requires a mandatory court appearance with a maximum of $999 per violation and up to 300 days in jail, to be determined by a judge,” the City said in a statement.
The mayor discussed “caution metrics” such as the number of new cases, positivity rates, ICU bed availability and hospitalizations.
“While we seem to be holding our own in this fight against the virus, I want to remind everyone a rise in any one of these caution metrics is concerning. If we see a rise in all four, well, that would likely trigger additional rollbacks and a possible action by the state. Again, this is what we want to avoid,” Hancock said.
Hancock said COVID-19 rates in Denver seem to be leveling off.
While the most recent seven-day average for new cases rose 24%, the number of hospitalizations decreased nearly 13%.
The City says the Pepsi Center testing site will continue operating for the foreseeable future.
Testing is one of Denver’s most effective tools in the fight against the virus, officials say.