Starting Dec. 14, a visit to Aspen will require a COVID test or quarantine
Ski mecca Aspen is in Pitkin County, Colorado which has seen a rise in rolling 14-day COVID-19 cases from four in August to 182 currently. Starting tomorrow December 14, all travelers ages 10 and over who will spend one or more nights in the county will have to complete an online travel affidavit prior to arrival.
The traveler affidavit requires a negative COVID-19 test that has been administered within 72 hours prior to your arrival in Pitkin County. You must be symptom-free for 10 days before travel and if you have not completed a test, you must quarantine for 10 days upon arrival.
There is a list of people exempt from the affidavit including people who commute to work or school regularly from outside of the county, workers providing critical infrastructure services, patients seeking medical treatment and military personnel.
Failure to complete the required affidavit or failure to comply with a required quarantine may result in a $5,000 fine. There isn't information on how the affidavit will be enforced, but there is a COVID-19 complaint form for the county where fellow citizens and visitors can report you.
The traveler affidavit does collect your itinerary information including your flight number if arriving at the airport, dates of travel and lodging location. I suppose the Department of Health could do spot checks to see if you have COVID-19 test results or if you select you are quarantining, that you are in fact at the place of quarantine. I certainly wouldn't test noncompliance at the risk of losing $5,000.
Related: Opening America: State-by-state guide to coronavirus reopening
As the winter surge continues with COVID-19 cases, we're likely to see more and more travel restrictions and traveler screening. With some Americans set to receive the first doses of the vaccine this week, 2021 can't come fast enough.
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