Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman blasted Douglas County’s exclusion from the Tri-County Health Department’s stay-at-home order, which remains in effect until May 8 for Adams and Arapahoe counties despite the lifting of the statewide directive.

“I really don’t understand why @douglascountyco is not included and will be allowed to move from the ‘stay-at-home’ order to the less restrictive ‘safer-at-home’ order after the 26th of April,” Coffman wrote on Twitter on Saturday. Adding that he was not happy with the disparate treatment, he said that health officials told him “it’s because of the differences in #COVID19 ‘hot spots,’ but I believe a more accurate explanation is the wall of opposition put up by @douglascountyco elected officials.”

Tri-County is the public health agency for the three suburban jurisdictions. The late-March announcement of the Tri-County stay-at-home policy generated immediate protest in Douglas County, whose Republican state legislators endorsed a withdrawal from the agency in retaliation.

Coffman on Sunday night added that “there is absolutely no question in my mind” that Tri-County was trying to prevent Douglas County from forming its own health department by letting it go a separate way with the order.

In announcing the two paths forward, Tri-County cited the lower number of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in the jurisdiction of 351,000 compared to its more populous counterparts. The department said that the extension of the original stay-at-home order would provide time for expanding testing and contact tracing, as well as to educate the community on the need to wear face coverings in public once more businesses reopen.

Lora Thomas, the District III commissioner in Douglas County, responded to Coffman’s allegations by pointing to the fewer than 500 COVID-19 cases in her jurisdiction, compared with over 2,100 in Arapahoe and 1,300 in Adams. “It’s about RISK. Not politics. Don’t be fooled,” she said.

In an April 22 letter to the department’s executive director, Douglas County commissioners contended that “as long as our communities continue to make responsible choices,” the lack of a “sustained surge” in hospitalizations suggested an end to some of the tougher restrictions of the stay-at-home directive.

The commissioners attached a plan, which, beginning Monday, would immediately allow small group gatherings to resume. Implementation of curbside retail pickup would start on May 1 and other businesses would reopen on May 4. The Douglas County blueprint relies heavily on individuals’ choices to behave responsibly – encouraging people to stay at home if sick and to practice distancing if in public.

“Personal responsibility will be required whereby those positive or presumed positive, along with direct household members, remain isolated for 14 days and high-risk and older individuals are strongly encouraged to remain at home when they can,” the plan explains.

Douglas County reopening plan