DENVER — DENVER — With COVID-19 cases in Colorado remaining prevalent and hospitalizations on the rise, conversations over mask mandates are heating up.
In Golden, all parks, city buildings and trails require people to wear masks but it is something not everyone remains on board with.
Emily Smith lives in Golden and says she supports the mask mandate.
"I think unfortunately, a lot of people need to be told and when we leave it as an option you have some people who choose to comply and some people who don’t," Smith said.
Golden city manager Jason Slowinski said by the end of this week, city council could issue an emergency ordinance requiring masks across Golden.
"The idea behind it is really to get higher compliance in some of our areas where we see a lot more people, a lot more tourists, a lot of residents out and about," Slowinski said.
Aurora is another city in favor of a mask mandate.
"A mask mandate may be inconvenient for a lot of people and I get the civil libertarians don’t like it but I think in terms of the options that are before us as far as bringing the COVID rate down and opening up this economy, I’ll take a mask mandate", Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman said.
On Wednesday, Tri-County Health will make a decision on issuing mask orders but only for Adams and Arapahoe counties.
Coffman would rather it be done across the board.
"People cross municipal boundaries everyday as a function of their jobs, shopping, school and so having this patch work in terms of a mandate doesn’t make sense to me", Coffman said.
When asked if a state or regional mask mandate was coming down, Gov. Jared Polis' office said it supports county decisions on mask rules since they’re the ones on the front lines.
