Boulder city manager Jane Brautigam has issued an order for residents to shelter in place beginning at 5 p.m. on Tuesday and extending until April 10.

“Voluntary measures are not enough,” Brautigam said, “and we must enact a stay at home order for everything but the most essential activities if we are to flatten the curve and stop the social spread of COVID-19.”

The directive is similar to that which Denver Mayor Michael Hancock announced on Monday.

Boulder will suspend its marijuana regulations that conflict with the state Marijuana Enforcement Division’s new policies adopted on March 20. Those regulations permit online sales and curbside pickup, allow stores to modify their stores temporarily to ensure safe distances between customers, and suspend fingerprinting requirements for store owners.

The city will allow essential businesses to remain open and ask them to provide enough space for customers to socially distance themselves. People experiencing homelessness are exempt from the order, but are “strongly urged to obtain shelter.”

“To the extent individuals are using outdoor spaces, they must, at all times and as reasonably possible, maintain social distancing of at least six feet from any other person when they are outside their residence,” the order reads. There is no prohibition on going outside, but group activities such as sports are prohibited. There is also no limitation on gatherings inside private residences.

An increasing number of localities and states nationwide are moving ahead with lockdown orders. Gov. Jared Polis has declined to issue a similar policy statewide, but he said he “strongly” supports local stay-at-home directives.

“There is a far greater enforcement authority in these matters, and his name is the Grim Reaper,” wrote Polis on Facebook. “If you don’t stay at home whenever possible and buy groceries less often, you will be jeopardizing lives. It could be your friends; those you love most. It could be your own self.”