At a press conference on Thursday afternoon, Gov. Jared Polis faced questions about a new lawsuit from the ACLU over his refusal to extend an executive order allowing the Department of Corrections flexibility in reducing the state prison population.

“We will vigorously defend against any lawsuit that seeks to turn this pandemic into an effort to release dangerous criminals,” Polis said. The lawsuit seeks relief for medically vulnerable inmates only, rather than “dangerous” prisoners.

“Prison inmates and guards are wearing masks. In fact, many of the prisoners are involved in making masks,” the governor added. Prisons are especially vulnerable to outbreaks, with the Sterling Correctional Facility having the second-highest number of COVID-19 cases connected to an institution. As of May 27, the number stood at 539, with two deaths.

The governor said that there are “some in the advocacy community” who seek to use the pandemic as an “opportunity for other reforms,” but that he was confident that DOC personnel were taking the appropriate measures. He has not commuted sentences or pardoned any inmates due to COVID-19.

Addressing a question from the public that he was a “facist” by seeking to increase the amount of testing, Polis said bluntly: “It’s the opposite of that.” The lack of testing led to broad closures, whereas greater availability of tests, the governor explained, could avoid further stay-at-home measures.

“We isolate the person who is contagious rather than the whole community or the whole state,” he said.

Polis reiterated the importance of staying at home to protect elderly populations, who are at elevated risk for infection. He explained that greater infections among older Coloradans cause hospital beds to fill up quickly, creating implications for other COVID-19 patients or those who need hospital admission for unrelated conditions.

“Health officials don’t know whether the worst is ahead of us or behind us, and frankly that will depend on your behavior,” he said.

Polis announced that the state has doubled its number of epidemiologists and created an infection control survey of all nursing homes in Colorado. The state also received 1,048 plans from congregate living facilities detailing how they would isolate those who tested positive for COVID-19.

To drive home the point, Polis brought out a special guest via videoconference: Susan Polis Schutz, his mom.

“Happy 76th birthday. You turned 76 last week,” the governor said. “You and Dad have been home since early March. You haven’t left your home. You haven’t had guests over.”

Schutz, a writer and documentary filmmaker, said that isolating away from her family has been difficult, but she has video calls with her grandchildren – Polis’s kids – and walks a total of three miles around the perimeter of her yard daily.

“How you cope with this or compensate is to really have a perspective on what is happening. It’s really sad with all the people passing away,” she said.

Briefly addressing revised guidance for restaurants, which allow for them to open for dine-in service at 50% capacity, with a maximum of 50 customers, Polis said that the state-imposed limits were not the hardship for restaurateurs. But rather, it was the perception of safety that keeps customers away.

“I think customers will slowly start returning as we have more of a sense of security,” he said. From what restaurant owners have told him, “The issue is more: we’re open at 50%. We have 10%. We’re at 20%. We can’t get by with a quarter of our normal customers.”

He added that some restaurants that are “pushing the limit” on capacity may be able to work with county health departments to be allowed a different threshold.