Governor’s Executive Mask Order

Although the Governor updated the Executive Order for facial coverings, the Gunnison County Public Health Order continues to require facial coverings inside buildings and outside when six feet of distance cannot be maintained.

As of 4/3/21 the Governor issued an update to the State’s mask ordinance. Given the way the Executive Order is structured, it has caused significant confusion for many. The Executive Order continues to require facial coverings in places like schools, state government facilities, congregate living facilities, prisons/jails, all personal services, and most healthcare settings. Those under 10 years of age or who ‘cannot medically tolerate a face covering’ are exempted from the order.

Counties with an incidence rate below 35 per 100,000 may modify face covering requirements, but are required to maintain them in the previously listed settings. Gunnison County does not meet this incidence rate.

Community Testing Update

As of April, 14th all COVID-19 testing provided at the GVH testing site will be scheduled Monday-Friday from 9am-12pm. Appointments continue to be made through the Gunnison County Call Center at 970-641-7660. Those seeking testing who are asymptomatic should continue to request testing through the Call Center.

We encourage all community members interested in receiving a test to do so. This includes before and after travel and other ‘personal reasons.’ Higher volumes of testing show the true prevalence of infection in the community.

Phase 2 Vaccinations Open

Phase 2 of vaccination has opened in Colorado. This means that all adults 16 and older who are interested in being vaccinated can look to schedule an appointment. Currently, the only vaccine approved for populations under 18 is Pfizer. At this point, Gunnison County regularly sees Pfizer doses and we will be able to continue scheduling this population at specific clinics. A reminder that those under 18 need to have an adult present to consent for vaccination.

Anyone in the general population interested in being vaccinated should continue to register in the Vaccine Interest Form.

Our total vaccination progress is being updated on Monday evenings and can be found on our dashboard here.

Mass Vaccination Site in Mesa County

The state has a mass vaccination site in Mesa County that is also open to regional residents. As vaccinations pivot toward the general population, this resource is also available to our community.

The clinic is at The Mesa County Convention Center (159 Main Street). The vaccination site is open Monday-Friday, 9am – 4pm. Registration for appointments required. Scheduling in English. Scheduling in Spanish.

Metrics for Move to Green on the Gunnison County Coronameter

On Monday we announced the metrics that it will take to reach herd immunity and move to green on the Gunnison County Coronameter.

It is important to note that while moving to green would drop restrictions on businesses, the mask mandate does continue even in green. Barring any resurgence of a variant that renders the vaccine ineffective, it is likely that the Gunnison County Public Health Order could expire at the end of June, along with the mask mandate.

Herd Immunity means that we have:

-10,000 individuals who are fully vaccinated with an effective vaccine

-Over 70% of individuals 65+ are fully vaccinated with an effective vaccine

-Over 70% of individuals in our database who list a health condition are scheduled for vaccination with an effective vaccine

We have already been able to fully vaccinate 77% of individuals over 65 years of age. This percentage is based on the DOLA estimates of our population of individuals over 65.

We have currently scheduled 98% of individuals with a health condition for a vaccine. Not all of these individuals are fully vaccinated. The good news is that within the next 3 weeks all of those individuals should be fully vaccinated. It is possible that more individuals with health conditions could add themselves to our system and this number could fluctuate up and down a bit.

The last remaining metric to meet herd immunity is to get 10,000 or more individuals in our county fully vaccinated with an effective vaccine. As of 4/5/21, we have over 5,500 fully vaccinated individuals. If we are able to keep up the pace that we have currently been going at in vaccinations, it is possible that we could reach this 10,000 number ahead of summer. This will depend on a continued supply of vaccine as well as interest from the public to get vaccinated. Help your neighbors get into our vaccine interest form.

Other Vaccine Sites

Through a federal program, City Market has been providing vaccine. They have set up a scheduling system that is separate from the Gunnison County Vaccine Interest Form. We are excited to have more doses arriving into our community.

Walmart has also begun vaccinations. Sign up can be found here.

Virtual Town Halls

Our next Town Hall meeting will be at 4:00 PM on Monday, 4/5. Sign up ahead of time here.

If there is a topic you would like to see covered, please email ideas to, pio@gunnisoncounty.org.

State Exposure Notification App

The state’s new exposure notification app is now live. Info on how to set it up can be found here. Even a small uptake of the app in our community can positively impact our outcomes. While alone it won’t be a game changer, combined with our other tools- social distancing, masks, hand hygiene- we can continue to reduce the spread.

Call Center: 970-641-7660

The Call Center is open from 8 a.m.-12p.m. and 1 p.m.- 4 p.m. Monday-Friday.

For those needing assistance outside of those hours, please leave a message. There will also be someone monitoring the callcenter@gunnisoncounty.org email.

Delivery Assistance

We can help you arrange deliveries of groceries from City Market’s Pickup program, food bundles from the Gunnison Food Pantry and prescriptions from City Market or Walmart pharmacies. We ask that you only use this service if you are at risk and isolating at home, ill with COVID-19 symptoms or quarantined because of exposure. Deliveries are made by drivers trained to handle your order safely. 

To arrange for a delivery, please call Senior Transportation Dispatch at 970-641-7959 Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Grocery deliveries can be scheduled Monday through Friday.

Prescription deliveries can be called in throughout the week but will only be delivered on Tuesdays and Fridays for the Gunnison area and on Tuesdays for the Crested Butte area. Special arrangements may be made in the case of an emergency.

Food Pantry bundles can be requested throughout the week but are only delivered on Tuesdays and Fridays in Gunnison, and on Tuesdays for the Crested Butte area.