DENVER (AP) — Colorado has ended emergency guidelines designed to ensure that hospitals and ambulances could take care of the most sick or injured patients while tending to a surging COVID-19 patients caseload.

The state health department made the announcement Thursday, Feb. 17. Chief Medical Officer Eric France says coronavirus cases and hospitalizations have declined in recent weeks as the omicron variant of the virus wanes.

The standards were enacted for hospital staffing in November and for ambulance crews and emergency responders in January. They allowed health care providers to prioritize care for COVID patients and the most sick as the pandemic caused alarming pressure on care providers and resources at medical care facilities.