Coloradans must take this virus seriously or the government will step in and do it for us.

Mayor Michael Hancock said he was moved to issue his stay-at-home order Monday in part by the sea of humanity that hit Denver’s parks, streets and sidewalks to enjoy Sunday’s beautiful afternoon. Fresh air and sunny skies offered Coloradans a false sense of safety even as leading health experts across the nation warn the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, is highly contagious and that social distancing is the only way to slow the spread and avoid a scenario where our hospitals are overwhelmed by people arriving in respiratory distress unable to receive life-saving care.

The rest of the state should heed Denver’s warning — stay home voluntarily when you can. Gov. Jared Polis has so far avoided issuing a statewide stay-at-home order, sometimes referred to as shelter-in-place, in favor of ordering businesses to reduce their non-essential workforce by half. Hopefully, a state-wide order can be avoided if we voluntarily take it upon ourselves to stay home unless it’s a critical need like groceries, the drug store, work (if it’s still open under the order) and yes, exercise.

Hancock emphasized that the order was more about underscoring the importance of staying at home unless absolutely necessary than it was about actually being able to enforce the rule. We suspect some of those out in the parks over the weekend simply did not realize they were putting themselves and others in danger or they wouldn’t have started “pick up volleyball and basketball games,” as Hancock said.

America’s economy isn’t grinding to a halt, but we are voluntarily slowing it to the point of intense pain in some sectors to save lives. Americans must take that seriously. Thousands of Coloradans are being put out of work to reduce the spread of this virus; the least we can do is stay home and do our part.

“The trends are not going in the right direction and the incremental steps that we have taken are not really beginning to move the needles as fast as we need them to move in order to protect our cities,” Hancock said. “The reality is that public health professionals have been advising us that this is the right direction to move for several days now … The bolder and quicker we move the faster we can end this economic trauma in our community. We don’t want to extend the economic pain of the people of Denver.”

We think Hancock and Polis are pushing in the right direction — toward greater controls during this unprecedented time — and we are concerned that the president is sending signals of heading in the opposite direction. There is a general sentiment from some that the cure cannot be worse than the disease, and there are very real fears that shuttering a large portion of our economy now will result in a lasting depression in the years to come. We share those concerns.

However, so unprepared was this nation for this particular calamity, that drastic action is the only way to save lives. Once our medical providers are able to acquire the equipment they need to keep themselves safe while treating COVID-19 patients and the equipment they need to give those patients a fighting chance at survival, the social distancing measures will be loosened. By that time, we expect testing will be more readily available allowing for much more targeted isolation and quarantines to take place. This virus likely isn’t going away anytime soon, so, for now, we must buy our medical professionals the time they need to keep themselves safe and to treat our friends, family, and neighbors who may need urgent care to stay alive.

The order in Denver goes into effect Tuesday at 5 p.m., but we advise everyone to start behaving now, whether they live in Denver or not, as though the order affects them too.

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