Students’ Opinion of Polis’s decision to pull back on stay at home orders

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Photo Coutesy of the Denver Business Journal

Colorado Governor Jared Polis announces the relaxation of stay-at-home order by changing regulations to safer-at-home orders.

Students have experienced a very confusing few weeks given the transition to online classes and the cancellation of athletics and school-sanctioned events. Though many students are challenged by the sudden end to social events and regular classes, they believe that the best way to return back to ‘normal’ life is by following the stay-at-home guidelines strictly and until COVID-19 is truly under control. Governor Jared Polis, however, is not following these hopes given his recent announcement of Colorado’s safer-at-home order. Polis is trying to support Colorado businesses and maintain as much of normal life as possible to account for the long term effects of COVID-19. He believes that resources such as retail stores and popular tourist sights should be reopened starting in the coming weeks. Polis’s decision may seem to have uncertain results, but he seems to have a plan for Colorado’s return to normal life.

“We need to figure out how to run the marathon now that we’ve run the sprint,” Polis said in a press conference with CPR news. “I hate to break it to you, but the easy part was the sprint.”

Hank Sweeney, a junior at Aspen High School, believes that Polis’s actions to change the regulations may be more detrimental to Colorado communities and thinks that the stay-at-home order is the best way to prevent the spread of the Corona Virus.

“I think that for the summer, [COVID-19] is over for Colorado, but once the fall hits, [the effects of COVID-19 are] going to go back up again and maybe be worse,” Sweeney said. “I think that the bringing up of the stay-at-home order date was not the right move because the more people out, the more [COVID-19] spreads.

Another student from AHS, Audrey Corcoran, is in agreement with Sweeney that the changing of regulations is not the right move by Polis and she believes that many people, mostly parents and grandparents, will be negatively affected by this decision. However, she brings up a curious thought about what really drove Polis to change the regulations.

“I think [this change] might have to do with the pressure of people wanting this to be over, but maybe science officials have told him that it is safe,” Corcoran said. “Since [the regulations] are changing, we need to make sure we still practice social distancing the best we can.”

Caprice Seeman, a fellow junior of the students above, feels torn about Polis’s decision, as she is both eager to return back to normal life but still realizes that the spread could continue if people do not remain in their homes. She also realizes that there are consequences to keeping the stay-at-home order and switching to safer-at-home order.

“I am worried that moving to this “safer-at-home” period people will stop listening to the rules and will continue to act like they can hang out with friends,” Seeman said. “This virus has made us have to trust that everyone is doing what is best for themselves and everyone else, and that’s hard when you hear about the kids who aren’t social distancing or people outright neglecting what we are all supposed to be doing. Without a vaccine, there is really nothing that can stop the virus except staying away from each other, and when those restrictions are loosened it creates sort of a grey area.”

All of these students agree that the stay-at-home order has been keeping Colorado people safer during this pandemic\; however, depending on how far into COVID-19’s future one looks, Polis’s actions can be responded to quite variably.

“The biggest [impact] being the fact that many people are out of jobs or aren’t getting a paycheck. We can’t live like that forever,” Seeman said. “Polis is taking this action because it is a step in the right direction for everyone that is suffering without money or food, however, it comes with a risk of more suffering from this virus.”