Gov. Jared Polis will update Coloradans today on the state’s coronavirus response at a press conference at the state Capitol in Denver.

The conference, slated to begin at 1:30 p.m., will be streamed live on the governor’s Facebook page. The Gazette will cover it live here.

Colorado is currently in what the governor has dubbed a “safer at home” phase under which Coloradans are asked to stay at home as much as possible. But nonessential retailers and personal service providers have been allowed to reopen with modified operations that incorporate social distancing. The governor has said the state could switch back to a “stay at home” order if the rate of new diagnoses warrants it.

o far, 16,635 cases of coronavirus have been diagnosed in Colorado, thought state officials have said that number could be as much as 10 times higher, due to lack of testing. Of those cases, 842 have died.

– The press conference has ended. Stick with gazette.com for the latest.

– “This is a tricky, tricky virus,” Polis said. “… Most people in 20s, 30s, 40s are perfectly fine, but it can still strike down people in their prime. … It’s a tricky, nefarious enemy that we have.”

– “This is virilogial, not ideological,” Polis said of the virus.

– Goggles or glasses offer additional protection from coroanvirus, Polis said.

– Restaurants need to know about a week before they open, and we don’t have a date yet because we need more data, Polis said, later hypothetically mentioning late May or June 1.

– “There’s going to be a day in the distant future when we can all be together again,” he said.

– “Darth Vader would be very safe right now despite his pre-existing respiratory condition,” Polis said, refercing “May the 4th Be With You” day, May 4. He also advised Coloradans to “stay a lightsaber away” from each other.

– The state is launching a new map of community-based testing sites. It will be located at covid19.colorado.gov, Polis said.

– The governor is forming a committee of local leaders, including members of law enforcement, fire departments and city govnernment, to guide the state’s decisions going forward.

– For older Coloradans, “May looks just like April,” he said.

– “It’s easy to live in a black and white world, where you’re staying at home or going out. The truth lies in between,” Polis said.

– “As you venture out, it’s a time not for anxiety and not for fear, but of justified caution,” he said.

– The daily growth rate of coronavirus cases was 1.4% yesterday; the growth rate for hospitaliztions was .1%, Polis said. “We’re glad things are moving in the right diretion … but that still means there are coronavirus cases in Colorado being rushed to the hospital every day.” That is “likely to remain the case for the foreseeable future, in Colorado, across the United States and across the world.”

– “We have no option; we have to get this right as a state,” he said, adding that mass deaths are not an option, and destroying the economy is also not an option.

– “Today is the first day back at work for many Coloradans,” he said.

– There are more than 16,800 confirmed diagnoses and nearly 850 deaths, Polis said.

– Polis is opening up the press conference by discussing Colorado paramedic Paul Cary, who volunteered for assignment in New York City during the pandemic and died of coronavirus, calling him “a leader, a steady hand in stormy seas.”