DILLON — Summit County officials are expected to announce that all businesses in the area will be asked to close moving forward to help stop the spread of COVID-19, according to Breckenridge Mayor Eric Mamula, who addressed the issue during a live stream of an emergency council meeting Monday afternoon.
Mamula said the public health order is expected to include every municipality in the county and would affect all businesses with the exception of gas stations, grocery stores, pharmacies and banks. Cannabis dispensaries are not exempt from the closures.
“The quicker we shut everything down, the quicker this all goes away,” Mamula said.
While no travel restrictions have been announced, council noted that the Summit Stage and Breckenridge Free Ride bus systems would be closed Monday night and mandatory closures for lodging will go into effect Thursday to give guests a chance to leave.
With the closures, Summit County joins a number of other communities around the country making changes in response to the disease — including statewide closures in California, Illinois, Ohio and more. Breckenridge Town Manager Rock Holman noted that the county’s new restrictions were modeled after similar efforts in Gunnison and Crested Butte.
“We’re assuming the state will be enacting similar guidelines shortly,” Mamula added. “For the next 14 days, you need to just hang out at home with your family.”
Taylor Sienkiewicz contributed in reporting this story.