After a “significant” decline in coronavirus cases among young people in Boulder County, the University of Colorado will resume in-person learning next week and county health officials will allow two orders to expire that limited gatherings and kept some students in their homes.

At a press conference Wednesday afternoon, CU Chancellor Phillip DiStefano and Boulder County health officials praised students for complying with the orders, which were issued late last month. They ordered young adults between the ages of 18 and 22 not to gather with anyone (an order that was eventually loosened to allow for groups of two) while requiring others in certain houses in Boulder to shelter in place. Classes were also moved online.

The measures were instituted after Colorado’s flagship university announced the largest outbreak in the state — 1,400 confirmed or probable cases among its students and staff in a month. But the number of cases has declined “significantly,” Boulder County Public Health said in a press release, and so classes will return Oct. 14  in a hybrid in-person and online format, DiStefano said.

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According to the school’s online coronavirus dashboard, no cases tied to the university were confirmed for three days straight. Eight new cases were confirmed Wednesday, out of 142 completed tests. In the weeks prior, CU had reported scores of cases each day. 

“Our CU student body has stepped up to the challenge in bringing down our positive numbers and our rates,” DiStefano said during the press conference. He said that depending on metrics in the coming days, the school will also begin to hold social gatherings for students, while requiring masks and imposing caps on attendance.

The Boulder County health department said in a press release earlier Wednesday that it would institute two new orders early next week. One would allow the “collegiate group homes” that were placed under shelter-in-place orders to exist that lockdown mode, permitted they provide a plan to mitigate the spread of the virus. Six residences that aren’t collegiate group homes will be released from the shelter-in-place order when it expires Thursday, without submitting a plan.

The second order provides a tier-based system for gatherings, depending on the number of positives per 100,000 residents, testing levels and overall positive rates over two-week periods. The tiers range from gatherings of up to six to no gatherings at all, other than two people being allowed to gather for “essential errands for a safety concern.” 

Officials said the new orders were meant to encourage younger people to follow public health orders and guidance.

“The metrics that trigger changes in restrictions between levels are largely influenced by individual behaviors, so they create incentives for young adults,” said Jeff Zayach, the executive director of Boulder County Public Health.

Boulder changes gathering order after student outrage

Asked why the school hadn’t implemented more stringent methods before an outbreak demanded them, Zayach said that work done before the semester started left officials with the hope that “we could be able to control the spread of the disease.” He said that changed “when we started to see the expansion of the disease, (and) we knew it was time to step the amount of restrictions forward in order to stop it.”

CU had established disciplinary proceedings for students who violated public health orders, including a 10-day suspension. Further penalties included potential fines and jail sentences. As of late September, more than 100 cases of minor infractions — like not wearing masks — had been referred to school authorities.

That number has also dropped in the past two weeks, DiStefano said Wednesday.