If you’re traveling to Aspen, be ready to prove you’re not bringing the coronavirus to town. Short of that, be ready to quarantine for 14 days or until you can produce a negative test.
Pitkin County has established a brave new measure that requires visitors to prove they are COVID-19 free.
Pitkin County is planning the mass distribution of an affidavit starting Dec. 14, requiring visitors to acknowledge they have had a negative COVID-19 test with 72 hours of travel and that they understand local public health orders. In addition, visitors will be asked to verify that they have been symptom-free 10 days before traveling.
The county is currently the only one in Colorado with such requirements, which define a visitor as someone who is spending the night and is traveling from outside of Pitkin, Eagle and Garfield counties.
Pitkin County is currently in the Level Orange: High-Risk category on the COVID-19 dial. Local officials say they see the new measure as a step beyond state requirements.
The county also is looking at ways to give the five-page affidavit more teeth, including the possibility of consumer-protection spot checks in the community – which could include random samplings and require selected individuals to provide evidence of negative tests.
The county’s IT staff has been assembling a web-based system while messaging is getting out to those who have booked vacations. The affidavit will be available at local lodging and rental property check-ins as well as the Aspen-Pitkin County Airport. Airlines serving Aspen have agreed to inform travelers about the new requirements.
All that said, officials admit it won’t be easy to enforce the protocol, which relies heavily on personal responsibility and the fact that many visitors arrive by car. In addition, there is the matter of rising COVID-19 case numbers in neighboring Eagle and Garfield counties, which house much of Aspen’s workforce.
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