A district judge scheduled Feb. 19 as the hearing date for Pitkin County Restaurant Alliance’s motion seeking injunctive relief to suspend the public health order that bans indoor dining.
Another ruling Judge Anne Norrdin issued Thursday effectively nixed the alliance’s attempt to get an injunction hearing held as early as Friday, which means the Pitkin County Board of Health’s Red-level order will remain in place indefinitely. The county entered the Red phase Sunday following the board’s vote Jan. 11 made out of concern over a rise in an COVID-19 incidence rate that has been the state’s highest and among the 25 highest in America.
Pitkin County s virus rate is the worst in the state, nearly double that of the next highest county. Other counties with destination ski resorts – Eagle, Routt and San Miguel – are among the worst 15, but still pale in comparison to Pitkin County’s rates. Alex Hager / Aspen Public Radio
Pitkin County has the highest incidence rate of COVID-19 in all of Colorado, nearly double that of the next highest county. Those alarmingly high numbers have sparked strict public health measures and strained contact tracers – but experts cannot pin down what’s driving the spike.
“We ran hundreds of calculations trying to determine what is really the difference here in Pitkin County, what is leading to this increase–and we didn’t really find anything,” said Josh Vance, an epidemiologist for the county.
Swim Ireland and RNLI team up for virtual open water series
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Swim Ireland has teamed up with the RNLI to offer a series of Open Water information and safety webinars, responding to the huge increase in new winter open water swimmers.
After a successful pilot in December, RNLI Water Safety Lead Kevin Rahill will host Weather and Waves later this month, and Tides and Currents next month, with both webinars open to all and all proceeds going to support the RNLI’s Volunteer Lifeboat Crews.
This is the first of many initiatives set to be rolled out this year as the partnership between Swim Ireland and the RNLI grows.
Attorneys for a group of restaurants mounting a legal challenge to overturn Pitkin County’s new health order have introduced new arguments in an attempt to get the issue before a judge by the end of the week.
Written pleadings filed Monday in district court by the Pitkin County Restaurant Alliance seek a court decision requiring the defendants the county, the board of health and interim public health director Jordana Sabella to answer the group’s complaint by Thursday so the matter can advance to a judge as early as Friday.
Ninth Judicial District Judge Anne Norrdin signed an order Monday afternoon giving Pitkin County until noon Wednesday to contest the motion.
Eleanor Bennett/Aspen Public Radio News
UPDATED 7 p.m. Friday: A judge denied the request from the Pitkin County Restaurant Alliance, meaning the indoor dining ban will go into effect on Sunday as originally planned.
A group of Pitkin County restaurant owners are trying to block tighter restrictions set by the county’s Board of Health that would ban indoor dining. Court papers filed Thursday evening in Pitkin County District Court challenge that ban, set to take effect on Sunday, Jan. 17.
The Pitkin County Restaurant Alliance was formed in the wake of the county’s Jan. 12 decision to roll back indoor dining as part of “red” level restrictions. The alliance’s lawsuit names Pitkin County, the county health department and Board of Health, and Pitkin County’s interim health director as defendants, and seeks a temporary restraining order against the indoor dining ban.