Several metro-area counties are set to end COVID-19 restrictions Sunday, according to officials and existing health orders.

Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield and Jefferson counties will all move to “level clear” Sunday, according to their current health orders, which expire after Saturday.

Denver’s order also expires this weekend. A spokeswoman for the city and county of Denver said officials “anticipate aligning with neighboring jurisdictions as well as adopting by reference any remaining state public health order requirements.” 

When the suburban counties move to level clear, all capacity restrictions and mitigation limitations will be eliminated, according to the current orders. Any existing state orders, such as the mask mandate, will still apply, but the orders allow for businesses to continue to implement their own restrictions.

Once counties lift the restrictions, they will move into an “observation period,” during which measures can be re-implemented if needed, according to the orders.

Thresholds that trigger additional restrictions are to be based on hospitalizations: More than two COVID-19 hospitalizations per 100,000 residents in those counties would qualify them for a return to level blue, their current level of limitations. An additional increase in hospitalization rate would prompt further restrictions.

Tri-County Health Department spokesman Gary Sky said Tuesday agency officials “expect updates from the state regarding what restrictions they plan to continue before the end of the week.”

“Right now, the state’s order requires 6ft distancing at indoor events with more than 100 people and requires plan review for outdoor, ticketed, seated events at facilities in excess of 30,000sq feet,” he wrote in an email. “They also require review of indoor events with more than 500 people.”

The unwinding in much of the metro comes a month after the state ceded most of the control of COVID-19 response measures to counties. At the time, nearly all Denver-area counties adopted similar measures to ensure consistency across the region, and officials from those counties indicated orders would then largely be removed entirely in mid-May. Douglas County did not align with its neighbors.

Clarissa Boggs-Blake, spokeswoman for the Denver Department of Public Health and Environment, said in an email Tuesday the county is “working with regional and State partners to evaluate the potential restrictions after the expiration of our current public health order” and that Denver would likely align with its neighbors.

Bob McDonald, executive director of Denver’s health department, has said previously that consistency among counties was a “challenge” after the state last month returned control of restrictions to county governments. He said Denver would continue to work with neighbors to ensure standardized restrictions in the metro.

Denver had a COVID-19 spike last month, but it has largely abated and is now at levels comparable to the low rates of early October, according to data published by the city.