To more closely align with the state's 'Safer at Home' order, which began April 27 (that's today!), Pitkin County will extend their stay-at-home order through May 9. It was originally supposed to end on April 30.

“We hate to impact the livelihoods of everyone who have been hurt by the COVID-19 restrictions,” said Pitkin County Public Health Director Karen Koenemann. “At the same time we want to avoid relaxing restrictions too quickly, only to have to reimpose them if there is a surge in cases.”

The May 8 order timeline is consistent with the restrictions in other counties, including Boulder, Denver, Adams, Arapahoe and Jefferson counties.

— Francie Swidler

4:50 p.m. — State has to balance economics and health, state health chief says

Colorado is walking a fine line between medical risk and economic recovery as it allows businesses to reopen in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, the director of the state health department said Monday.

“Basically this is a really tricky balance between trying to continue to keep the disease transmission at a level at which it won't overwhelm our hospital systems and allow people to still try and earn a living, frankly,” said Jill Hunsaker Ryan, executive director of the Colorado Department of Health and Environment.

On Sunday, Gov. Jared Polis lifted a stay-at-home order that had kept all but essential businesses closed for a month. On Monday, a new statewide order called Safer at Home took effect, allowing many businesses to reopen and employees to return to work. Some local governments, though, are setting their own rules. They’re either sticking with stay-at-home regulations for another couple of weeks or relaxing their rules more quickly than the state.

Hunsaker Ryan said Colorado still lacks the testing it needs to determine exactly how widespread COVID-19 is and detect emerging hotspots. Instead, officials use other metrics to gauge whether personal and business activities need to be more restricted in certain areas. Those include the speed at which caseloads grow and the percentage of tests that come back positive for the disease.

Ryan said the state’s testing efforts are still hampered by an international shortage of key supplies. “In an ideal situation, everybody who was showing symptoms and even people who are asymptomatic that potentially have been exposed would be tested.”

Critics say Polis’ decision to relax the rules this soon could put the state at risk if there’s another wave of the virus later this year.

The University of Colorado hospital system currently has about 200 COVID-19 patients, with about half of those in intensive care, according to CU’s chair of emergency medicine, Dr. Richard Zane. He said experts are watching the data closely to detect outbreaks early and tighten rules in communities where caseloads are growing. “We're hyper-aware of what the next step is and what the risks of the next phase are,” he said.

— Ryan Warner

4:04 p.m. — Some workers will be able to collect unemployment if they refuse to return to unsafe conditions

Gov. Polis is trying to offer some degree of aid for employees who feel unsafe returning to their workplaces because of COVID-19.

He's ordered the Department of Labor to ensure people will qualify for unemployment insurance if they quit rather than going back to work in some circumstances. The order says the workplace must have demonstrably unsafe conditions and that the protections apply particularly to vulnerable employees.

The order says employers can't compel vulnerable people to return to work if they could be exposed to the virus. Also, they must try to accommodate, to the "greatest extent possible,” employees who don’t have child care while schools remain closed.

The gradual lifting of Polis’ statewide “stay-at-home” order has put many workers on edge, concerned they may be forced to either resign or return to situations they consider unacceptably risky. Under normal rules, workers who lost their jobs this way would not be eligible for unemployment benefits.

— Megan Verlee

3:37 p.m. — What the congressional delegation thinks about today's soft reopening

As the new safer-at-home order replaces stay-at-home in Colorado, members of the state’s congressional delegation are cautiously optimistic.

Republican Rep. Scott Tipton said the delegation got a preview from Gov. Jared Polis about the state's soft open. Tipton said most people understand a threat still exists, but he’s hopeful that the social distancing, handwashing, wearing face masks and other preventive steps will keep people safe as the state begins to loosen restrictions.

Overall, though, the message he’s heard from constituents has been they’re “anxious to get back to work.”

Democratic Rep. Ed Perlmutter appreciates Polis’ effort “to balance public health with the economic challenges” of COVID-19. “Colorado is a diverse state, and local jurisdictions benefit from strong leadership at the state level, as well as the ability to determine what’s best for their residents,” he said.

Still, Perlmutter stressed legitimate data should drive decisions. It was a sentiment echoed by GOP Sen. Cory Gardner. “As we move forward, we must follow the guidance from public health experts,” he said.

Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet, however, is worried that “an unvirtuous cycle of openings and closings” may result from subsequent waves of the coronavirus.

“I have said from the beginning that the best way to address that is to have an infrastructure in place,” Bennet said. “And while Gov. Polis is trying to create that, there’s no question we’d all be better off if we had a national strategy and leadership to help states manage this crisis.”

GOP Rep. Ken Buck is glad to see the start of a safe reopening of Colorado communities.

“It’s important we continue to take measured steps that allow businesses to safely open their doors and get Coloradans back to work,” Buck said. “We must also ensure high-risk folks still have the option to work from home.”

Colorado is among a handful of states, including Minnesota, Mississippi and Montana trying to allow some businesses to reopen today.

— Caitlyn Kim

2:56 p.m. — Safer-at-home starts today. Here's the order

You can read the full public health order in full below. We also have a break down of what you can and can't do, and what's opening and what's staying closed, here.

2:45 p.m. — The latest coronavirus numbers

There are now 13,870 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Colorado, Gov. Jared Polis said Monday during an update on the state's response to the pandemic.

695 people have died due to the disease.

There have been 2,479 total hospitalizations, but only 812 are currently in the hospital. In the last 24 hours, 64 people were discharged.

There are 143 outbreaks in long-term care facilities, meatpacking plants, prisons and other places in the state.

The state has tested more than 66,000 people.