On 3/25/2020, Public Health Director Tom Gonzales issued a Stay at Home order requiring all individuals in Larimer County to stay at home except for food and essential services to further reduce the spread of illness in our community. The order has been extended to be effective through April 26th.

We are strongly encouraging everyone to postpone what they can in order to protect themselves, their families, and the larger community during this quickly growing pandemic.

Questions or Comments About the Stay-at-Home Order

Purpose of the Order

The core purpose of this order is to promote physical distancing to the greatest extent possible. This has been issued based on evidence of the increasing occurrence of COVID-19 within Larimer County, scientific evidence and best practices about the most effective approaches to slow the transmission of communicable diseases generally and COVID-19 specifically, and to protect those most at risk of severe illness and death from COVID-19. The purpose of any stay-at-home directive is for the majority of people in our community to remain at home and stay well so that our medical systems are able to continue to provide care to the most critical patients from COVID-19 and to reduce the number of days until the community reaches the peak transmission.

Larimer County Officials estimate transmission has already been reduced based on previous measures taken in Larimer County and Colorado, such as closing restaurants and bars for dine-in service, halting personal services in hair salons and spas and bans of gatherings of more than ten individuals. If no further measures were taken, Larimer County officials believe it would take months to slow the spread of transmission in the community.

However, with the addition of this Stay-at-Home Order, which directs the community to leave the house or place of residence only for food and essential services, public health officials believe they could achieve a substantial decrease in transmission. A Stay-at-Home order now can dramatically decrease the length of restrictions in Larimer County.

Intent of this Order



While some will call this directive, "shelter-in-place," it is far from the shelter-in-place of acute emergencies, like for active shootings or tornadoes. The purpose of such an order is to enforce physical distancing between people to slow and stop the spread of the virus. There is nothing inherently dangerous about going outside but rather in being close to other people who are ill, whether they know it or not.

During a stay-at-home order you are able to:

Go to the pharmacy to get medication.

Get groceries for you and anyone that lives in your home.

Have a take-out meal from your favorite local restaurant.

Get food or supplies for your pet.

Take a walk or go for a hike -- as long as you are keeping your distance from others.

Enjoy City and County open spaces

Take groceries and supplies to your at-risk parents, grandparents, or neighbors

Get margaritas-to-go from your favorite watering hole! (please enjoy responsibly from home)

Essential Activities and Business

The shelter-in-home order that Larimer County and state public health is adopting requires residents to remain in place at their homes EXCEPT for essential activities, including:

Tasks essential to maintain health and safety, such as obtaining medicine or seeing a doctor.

Getting necessary services or supplies for themselves or their family or household members, such as getting food and supplies, pet food and supplies necessary for staying at home.

Caring for a family member in another household.

Caring for the elderly, minors, dependents, people with disabilities or other vulnerable persons.

Exchanging physical custody of your child(ren) with their other parent as part of a custody arrangement.

The shelter-in-home order also does not apply to those going to work in an essential business or essential government function.

Critical Business (Essential Business) is Defined Below

We strongly recommend that all businesses, including those designated as critical or essential, carefully consider if and how they will operate during the stay-at-home order. We recommend businesses operate virtually as much as possible and discontinue services and operations that can be postponed until a later time. While some businesses and services are outlined below as critical or essential and may remain open, our community feels strongly that many businesses currently operating should be closed.

We are strongly encouraging everyone to postpone what they can in order to protect themselves, their families, their customers and clients, and the larger community during this quickly growing pandemic.