The Colorado Department of Transportation will award up to $5,000 to governments or nonprofit organizations that have plans to boost the prevalence of teleworking during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“As we slowly transition from Safer at Home orders and move forward on initiatives to prevent a recurrence of COVID, these type of programs help build on other efforts to provide a variety of safe economic opportunities,” said’s CDOT executive director, Shoshana Lew.

The CanDo Community Telework Program will evaluate proposals based largely on their public health benefits and their ability to address the air quality and safety implications of commuting. Recipients have until Dec. 1 to implement their project.

In addition to promoting distancing of workers, the goal of the grant program is to “increas[e] the normalcy of telecommuting as a best work practice for employers,” the department wrote. Examples of projects worthy of funding include promotion and coordination of community-wide teleworking, development of marketing materials and telework training.

On Tuesday, the United States set a new record for daily COVID-19 infections, at more than 60,000. The increasing numbers nationally are a result of eased restrictions on businesses and social gatherings. Although the death rate has not yet increased correspondingly, Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, warned that same day: “There’s so many other things that are very dangerous and bad about this virus. Don’t get yourself into false complacency.”