Colorado has launched a new testing program for the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, specifically designed for health care workers and first responders.

The program was announced Thursday by Mike Willis, the state’s director of the Office of Emergency Management. The program is under the federal Department of Health and Human Services, he told reporters Thursday. Tests are being conducted in three locations around the state. “It’s a great opportunity to protect the most critical components of the health care system: the people in it,” Willis said.

The state has received 5,000 test kits and expects another 2,500 in the coming week. “The longer we can protect these people, the stronger our health care system is” and the longer it will last when the surge in hospitalizations come, he explained.

Willis emphasized that the testing program is not for the general public.

The strategic national stockpile has sent two “pushes” of personal protective gear to Colorado and a third is expected in the next week. But “we knew it would not be enough,” Willis said. The state is working to acquire more supplies from public and private sector sources, and the objective is to get a  supply chain up and running, although he could not say just how much the state will need.

With the statewide “stay at home” order now in effect, many are questioning how that will be enforced. Willis said the governor made it clear that voluntary compliance is the way to go. An FAQ distributed by the governor’s office Wednesday said that the executive order is the law of the land and “it’s illegal to break the law.” However, the FAQ also pointed out that the Colorado National Guard is not going to be enforcing the order, and when asked if local law enforcement will be doing road checkpoints for example, Willis indicated that would not happen.

However, for employees who work in essential industries, badges or other identification would be sufficient, Willis said, and if an employer issues a letter for employees to carry, those also would be respected.

There are employers who are looking for loopholes, which Willis called unfortunate. He said Polis would reevaluate the effectiveness of the executive order and take additional actions if the current order is not having the desired effect of flattening the curve of infections and hospitalizations. “There’s an absolute need for all of us” to voluntarily comply with the order, Willis said. “it’s unfortunate employers would put employees” in a position of having to go to work at business that are not considered essential.

The New York Times and other news outlets have reported that a 2019 federal exercise, known as the Crimson Contagion, warned of a pandemic but that information never made it past a draft report stage. “Federal agencies jockeyed over who was in charge. State officials and hospitals struggled to figure out what kind of equipment was stockpiled or available. Cities and states went their own ways on school closings,” the draft report said. 

Scott Bookman, the incident commander from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment in charge of the pandemic, said Colorado learned a lot from that exercise. The plans assumed surge capacity and assistance from other states, but once the pandemic hit all at once across the nation, those assumptions just weren’t true, he said. That’s meant that states are working within their own borders with local public health and health care partners and emergency managers to ensure “we’re utilizing all resources at the state level to prepare for what’s coming.”

State data as of March 25 showed outbreaks at nine residential and non-hospital health care facilities, but state health officials have not identified the locations of those facilities. “We are being as transparent as we can be,” Willis said. These locations are under investigation and it’s important to complete those investigations before releasing any information, he said.

Bookman said the state is developing procedures for moving patients in areas with capacity issues to facilities with lower demand. It will be several weeks to see the impact of social distancing and the executive order on the number of cases, he said. That also means that while the state has seen a surge in cases in mountain communities, it’s not to the point where it’s creating a negative impact on the health care systems.

A lack of social distancing at grocery stores could prompt additional regulatory action, Willis indicated. “We’re discussing with the grocery store community” way to protect employees and customers, he said.