Bars, restaurants, and other businesses will be allowed to operate at higher capacity across the metro area beginning 9 a.m. Saturday

Denver, Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Douglas and Jefferson counties will all move to Level Yellow following Gov. Jared Polis’ announcement that the state’s COVID-19 dial has been revised to “Dial 2.0.”

Polis loosens COVID-19 restrictions with ‘Dial 2.0’

Now that the counties are changing from Level Orange to Level Yellow, businesses will be allowed operate at 50% capacity up to a maximum of 150 people.

“I’m excited for all of us to have more people, especially in light of the Super Bowl on Sunday, so the timing couldn’t have been better,” said Blake Street Tavern Owner Chris Fuselier. “February is always a tough month for us, even in pre-COVID times, so we really need to start getting back to normal.”

Although the state will continue to use CDPHE’s COVID dial, Polis has loosened the criteria for counties to qualify for certain levels.

The changes in capacity limit comes just a day after Denver County was approved by the Colorado Department of Health and Environment to begin certifying businesses through the state’s 5-Star Certification Program. 

Applications to open Tuesday for Denver 5 Star Certification Program

This statewide program allows businesses to operate at one level below the county’s current dial color. That means certified businesses like restaurants will be allowed to have 175 people inside instead of 150, according to CDPHE.

Blake Street Tavern was one of three restaurants to gain certification in Denver on Friday and Mayor Michael Hancock hand delivered the certification decal that evening.

“It was pretty neat to have the mayor hand deliver,” Fuselier said.

“I really appreciate the mayor coming by, I appreciate him supporting the program. It was a really neat experience,”

While the rest of Denver moves to Level Yellow on Saturday, the Blake Street Tavern and other certified restaurants will be allowed to move to Level Blue. However, the only difference certified businesses currently have over those non-certified is they are allowed to serve alcohol later – until midnight.

Denver County was one of the last counties in the metro area to implement the 5-star program, ahead of only Adams and Boulder counties.

Another major change to Denver’s COVID-19 restrictions also came Thursday, as Hancock revised the county’s public health order to allow spectators at non-professional sporting events.

The revised order also allows for recreational sports to resume as long as they comply with the guidelines from CDPHE.

Currently, Denver has a 285.5 incident rate, a 3.4 two-week positivity rate, and has had 11 days of declining or stable hospital admissions related to COVID-19, according to a city news release.