Gov. Jared Polis announced Tuesday that the state had activated some emergency tools used during natural disasters to deal with the new coronavirus, but he’s holding off on more aggressive actions like ordering gathering places to close.

So far, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment hasn’t identified any cases of the new virus, known as COVID-19, in the state, though Polis said some likely will be found in the near future.

The state is using something called an “incident command,” where representatives from 10 agencies work to coordinate their response to an emergency. In recent years, it’s been used during severe storms and other natural disasters.

Polis didn’t rule out taking more dramatic steps if Colorado develops a significant outbreak, but said there’s no need at this point.

“In the meantime, Coloradans should continue their normal daily routine,” he said.

Decisions about closing schools will be up to individual districts, unless the situation is serious enough to require him to use the governor’s emergency powers, Polis said. He didn’t directly answer whether the state had a plan if large numbers of employees call out sick, but said absenteeism is at normal levels for the flu season.

The state legislature’s top leaders on Tuesday afternoon discussed what could happen if a state of emergency is declared in Colorado and the General Assembly can no longer meet at the Capitol due to a public health crisis. Members reviewed a plan that was last updated in 2017, which would allow the General Assembly to meet at other locations, hit the pause button on the 120-day session and resume following the disaster if that was required, or figure out an alternate schedule to complete mission-critical work.

On Monday, the state health department announced it would be able to test for coronavirus locally, instead of sending samples from patients to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It will be able to handle up to 160 cases per day, with a 24-hour turnaround time.

Dr. Rachel Herlihy, Colorado’s state epidemiologist, said 29 people have tested negative and eight cases were pending as of Tuesday morning.

Colorado is testing people who develop symptoms after traveling to an affected area or having close contact with a person who had COVID-19, and people who were hospitalized for respiratory symptoms and tested negative for more common viruses like the flu. The criteria are somewhat broader than the CDC’s in an effort to identify people with mild cases who could spread the virus, she said.

State officials urged Coloradans to take steps recommended for any respiratory virus, including washing their hands thoroughly, avoiding touching their faces and staying home if they feel sick. They also suggested people have enough food and water at home to last them 72 hours, but said there’s no need for people who aren’t ill or working with sick people to wear masks.

The United States has reported 116 cases of COVID-19 and nine deaths. All of the deaths happened in Washington state, where a nursing home was hit by the outbreak. Older people and those with chronic conditions are at higher risk of complications, like pneumonia.

Worldwide, 92,700 people have been diagnosed with the virus, and 3,157 have died, according to The New York Times. The vast majority of deaths were in China.

The world did get some good news Tuesday, though. Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, said the virus is less contagious than the flu, and countries could contain the outbreak if they act quickly.

Denver Post staff writer Saja Hindi contributed to this report.

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