Denver’s coronavirus cases have risen at a “concerning rate” over the last month, and its average daily case rate is as high as it was at the height of the pandemic in May, Mayor Michael Hancock said in a press conference Monday morning.

“We’re at another make-or-break moment here,” he cautioned. “Our city and our residents can’t afford a setback. We need everyone to keep wearing their masks and avoid gathering in large groups by any measure.”

Denver’s seven-day average daily case rate is above 127, and the positivity rate is hovering between 4% and 4.5%, Hancock reported. A rate of over 5%, he said, is going to mean “a great deal of trouble for us here in Denver.”

In the week of Oct. 3, the city’s average hospitalizations was 126. However, that number jumped by 37% the following week, pushing the city to a “fork in the road,” he said.

“Let me be clear, if our numbers keep going in the direction they’re going, we could be forced to go backwards [from Level 2] to Level 3,” he said, referring to the state’s “dial” system, which defines five levels of COVID-19 restrictions.

“That means our capacity in restaurants, retail businesses, event spaces and personal services, among others, get cut in half. When so many businesses right now are struggling just to stay open, that would mean absolute devastation,” he said. “For working parents, it could mean having their kids back to full-time remote learning … . It could mean, folks, more job losses in our economy.”

Part of what’s behind the alarming trend is the return of college students coming back from summer breaks, he said.

Other factors at play could be decreased physical distancing, the recent holidays and the fact that viruses tend to do better during flu season, according to Bob McDonald, executive director of Denver’s Department of Public Health and Environment.

McDonald said the city will be “implementing more public health controls” to “double down” on face coverings and physical distancing.

He also emphasized the effectiveness of face masks: “Face coverings work. They work. Science has proven that.”

McDonald urged residents to get a flu shot as soon as possible, “certainly by the end of October,” and Hancock said he would be getting his later today at a local Walgreens, where they are administered for free with most insurance. 

McDonald also urged the community to celebrate Halloween responsibly, not among big groups or if feeling under the weather. He also singled out young adults, a group that has seen higher rates of infection.

“Do not party,” he said. “This is not the time to have a large party of young adults.” 

Denver Public Schools Superintendent Susana Cordova also spoke during the press conference and said that the gradual reopening of DPS elementary schools the past few weeks is “for the most part … going well,” but said there have been small outbreaks, mostly among staff.

“Given this fact that we’ve seen limited disruption in our elementary in-person schooling, and that elementary children are significantly lower-risk to COVID and that remote learning is very hard for our elementary school students and their families, we are working to continue with our plans to reopen our elementary schools to all grades next week,” on Oct. 21, she said.

DPS officials are also looking to offer a mix of remote instruction and in-person school for middle and high school students.

DPS will meet with Denver Health later Monday, according to Cordova, and the Denver Board of Education this evening to solidify plans for the remaining fall semester.

“We should, within the next 24 to 48 hours, be in a position to have much more concrete information about our next steps,” she said.