State health officials are asking for public opinion on a business certification program that would allow certified businesses to operate with higher capacity limits than currently allowed.

In the draft released Friday by the Colorado Department of Public Health, the 5 Star Program would allow certified businesses and restaurants in Level Orange counties that only allow 25% capacity, to operate at Level Yellow or 50% capacity. 

State officials are still trying to determine whether counties in Level Red will be eligible for the program, and are currently monitoring a pilot program in Mesa County. 

“This pilot will provide needed data on if a 5 Star program is compatible with suppression goals of the Red Level,” the draft read. 

Purple counties are ineligible for the program.

Individual counties would be responsible for setting up an administrative committee that must include the local public health agency, and can include other partners from the local Chamber of Commerce, and non-profit or industry association members.

The administrative committee must apply to the CDPHE for approval and then any interested businesses must complete a CDPHE webinar about the regulations they must follow to be certified.

According to the draft, in order to qualify a business must:

• Have a written plan about how they are implementing or exceeding state and local prevention guidelines, and have a compliance and enforcement plan. 
• Have staff and customers wear masks at all times, and the businesses must have enforcement protocols.
• Have all employees checked for symptoms or screened daily through the CDPHE symptom tracker tool or other approved protocol. 
• Have regular outreach to employees and customers with active Exposure Notifications
• Must record the name and contact number of all customers for contact tracing. 
• Follow industry-specific requirements
• Have not been cited for noncompliance with a public health order

The administrative committee will review each business’ plans and complete an inspection to certify the business. After certification, the committee is responsible to continuously monitor to assure compliance, and can remove certification.

If the state health department finds the administrative committee is not performing its enforcement, they can remove the program from the county. 

The program can also be suspended in individual counties if a county reaches 90% or more of their hospital/RETAC capacity, and if it reaches Level Red metrics for more than two weeks.

Health officials will review the results of Mesa County’s pilot program on Dec. 4 and finalize the program by Dec. 14, with hopes of a launch within days. 

The public is encouraged to submit comments about the draft to the state here.