Colorado’s 5.7M residents told stay at home

An Argonaut Wine and Liquor employee organizes carts for a long line of customers on March 23, 2020 in Denver, Colorado. Residents stock up on essentials before stores close for three weeks amid a shelter-in-place order starting Tuesday evening due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. Denver Mayor Michael Hancock announced liquor stores and marijuana dispensaries would be allowed to stay open as long as they enforced extreme social distancing practices. | Photo by Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images

DENVER — A statewide stay-at-home order is in effect in Colorado to stem the rapid spread of the coronavirus.

Gov. Jared Polis announced Wednesday he was taking the “extreme measure” because the restrictions taken to date haven’t been enough to reduce the spread of the virus. Polis says if people don’t follow the order there will be a much worse economic disaster with greater disruption for a longer time.

Starting Thursday, the state’s 5.7 million people should only leave home for grocery shopping, medical care, exercise or taking care of a vulnerable person. It’s in effect until April 11.