Gov. Jared Polis released Executive Order D 2020 045 on April 26, authorizing voluntary or elective surgeries and procedures to begin again in Colorado under certain conditions. This was followed by CDPHE's Public Health Order (PHO) 20-29 on April 27, which set forth requirements for reinstating elective medical services. CMS encourages you to review the entire Executive Order and PHO before resuming elective surgeries and procedures. Also, to aid physician practices, the Colorado Medical Society created a one-page summary of the medical facilities section of the PHO. Access it here. Among the requirements are for practices to have a two-week supply of PPE, follow strict infection control policies, have a universal symptom screening process, stagger patient scheduling and reassess operations after two weeks. All must be in place in order to resume these services.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) resumed accepting Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) applications from participating lenders on Monday, April 27, following passage of the latest COVID-19 relief package on April 24. With the additional funding injection, SBA will resume processing EIDL Loan and Advance applications that are already in the queue on a first-come, first-served basis. The small business loan programs authorized under the CARES Act had been quickly depleted after only two weeks of operation. Read more here.

Colorado is currently building a statewide contact tracing system to assist a safer rollback of the Stay-At-Home Order. While CDPHE, local health departments, and their partner organizations are still vetting trainings for volunteers and establishing a contact tracing system, CMS is soliciting volunteers to step up when the call comes. According to estimates by the National Association of City and County Health Officials, in the Denver Metro area alone, an effective contact tracing and support system would require 959 trained workers and volunteers. We are currently looking for two types of volunteers: contract tracers and COVID navigators. Read more and sign up here.

The Colorado House of Medicine released a statement Saturday, April 25, with recommendations for how to safely resume the Safer at Home order. In addition to expanding access to efficient and available testing by physicians, contact tracing and other surveillance activities, we recommend extending liability protections for physicians, ensuring adequate PPE supplies, and leveraging telehealth gains. Read more here.

Learn more about current availability and modality of COVID-19 testing in Colorado at Virtual Grand Rounds tomorrow, Wednesday, April 29, 6 - 7:30 p.m. Expert speakers from LabCorp, Quest Diagnostics, the Colorado State Public Health Laboratory and Rocky Mountain Labs will discuss the efficacy of antibody tests and at-home tests, what you need to know about testing as you reopen your office, and much more. Speakers will then take questions from the audience. Register here.

Join us for the next virtual physicians' town hall Wednesday, May 6, 6 - 7 p.m. Register here. The town hall will be moderated by CMS President David Markenson, MD, MBA. Panelists TBD.