Denver Mayor Michael Hancock will extend the city’s stay-at-home order until May 8, he announced Thursday evening on Twitter.

Denver’s order went into effect March 23 and was set to expire April 11, but was later extended to April 30 after the city’s Office of Emergency Management elevated the coronavirus outbreak situation to “worsening.”

Gov. Jared Polis announced this week that the statewide stay-at-home order would begin lifting on Sunday and that Coloradans could begin transitioning into a “safer at home” phase. Polis’ move “put added pressure on Denver” to decide if and how to begin reopening the city, Denverite reported.

“I know many are anxious about what next week will look like,” given the governor’s “phased relaxation” of the state stay-at-home order, Hancock wrote on Twitter. “After careful consideration, in consultation w/ metro mayors & public health guidance, I’ve decided to extend our local order.

“Extending our stay-at-home order will give us more time to do the things necessary for our community to re-open safely & in stages,” Hancock added. “So, we need a little more time to scale up testing & tracing, & provide our resident & biz w/ the kind of specific guidance they are asking for.”

Polis “has provided a roadmap forward and given each local municipality the responsibility to build their own path toward pandemic recovery,” said Laura Swartz, a spokeswoman for Denver’s Joint Information Center. “This is not unlike the federal government instructing states to set their own guidance for re-opening the economy.”

However, the separate and quickly evolving orders are causing confusion among local businesses that don’t know whether to follow state or city orders.

“Many businesses in Denver have been confused” between the mayor and governor’s orders, said Felicia Lewis-Dare, a public health investigator for the city’s public health department.

Nevertheless, she said, businesses in Denver need to abide by the city’s stay-at-home order.

Hancock is expected to formalize the announcement at 10 a.m. Friday in a press conference held in the basement of the Denver City and County Building.