Tulare moves into orange, Fresno remains red in state’s COVID reopening tiers
Tulare County is moving from the red tier of California’s coronavirus reopening program for businesses into the less restrictive orange level, clearing the way for restaurants, churches, entertainment venues and other businesses to reopen or expand their indoor operations.
State health officials reported Tuesday that the county’s pace of new COVID-19 cases, measured as a rate of new daily cases per 100,000 residents, was low enough to propel it forward in California’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy. The county has been in red Tier 2, representing “substantial” spread of coronavirus within the community, for three weeks since March 16. Starting Wednesday, it will be in orange Tier 3, denoting “moderate” viral transmission.
Fresno, Kings and Madera counties remain in red Tier 2 of the state’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy. All three are entering their second week at that level. The soonest that any of the three counties could join Tulare County in the orange tier would be following the April 20 tier assignments – if their case rates and testing measures meet or beat the orange threshold for two consecutive weeks.
Merced County remains in purple Tier 1, the most restrictive tier denoting “widespread” transmission of the virus in the community, because it’s rate of new cases per 100,000 residents increased to 11.7 for the week ending March 27, rising from 9.2 the previous week, in Tuesday’s assignment by the California Department of Public Health.
Merced County is one of only two California counties, along with Inyo County on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada range along the California-Nevada state line, that are still stuck in the purple tier.
Mariposa County continues in the orange tier for a sixth consecutive week.
California’s tier assignments are based on two primary measures: the rate of new cases, measured as a daily rate per 100,000 population within a county, and testing positivity, the percentage of people getting tested for COVID-19 for whom results come back positive for the virus.
Among Valley counties, the rates reported Tuesday for the week ending March 27 are:
- Fresno County: 8.4 new cases per 100,000 residents, up from a rate of 8.2 per 100,000 last week. Testing positivity remained unchanged at 3.8%.
- Kings County: 5.9 new cases per 100,000 residents, down from 7.9 per 100,000 last week. Testing positivity fell from 3.3% last week to 2.4% on Tuesday.
- Madera County: 5.1 new cases per 100,000 residents, up from 4.8 per 100,000 last week. Testing positivity was reported at 2.4%, up slightly from last week’s 2.3%.
- Mariposa County: 4.8 new cases per 100,000 residents, up from 2.4 per 100,000 the previous week. Testing positivity was up, rising from 1.0% last week to 1.7% in Tuesday’s report.
- Merced County: 11.7 new cases per 100,000 residents, up from 9.2 per 100,000 last week. Testing positivity was 4.3%, a slight drop from 4.4% last week.
- Tulare County: 3.1 new cases per 100,000 residents, down from 4.8 per 100,000 a week earlier. Testing positivity was also down, falling to 1.8% compared to 2.3% last week.
‘Diligence’ in Tulare County
“Advancement into the orange tier reflects the persistence of Tulare County in adhering to public health safety measures and diligence in getting our residents vaccinated against COVID-19,” said Dr. Karen Haught, public health officer for the Tulare County Department of Health and Human Services. “However, it is still important for everyone to continue to practice health and safety measures to slow the spread of COVID-19.”
“Wear your mask or face covering securely, keep proper social distance, avoid crowds, especially indoors, wash your hands with soap and water, get tested, and get vaccinated,” Haught added.
Under the orange tier, restaurants in Tulare County will be able to expand indoor dining to 50% of their capacity, provided there is sufficient space for physical distancing and that staff wear masks. Customers also are supposed to wear masks while eating and drinking.
Similarly, churches and movie theaters, which had been limited to 25% capacity in the red tier, will be able to increase indoor service to 50% of capacity. Other business sectors will also be able to either open or expand indoor operations.
The statewide picture
On Tuesday, the state announced that it had achieved a goal of providing 4 million doses of coronavirus vaccine into neighborhoods that fall among the bottom 25% of California’s Healthy Places Index, or HPI. That was the trigger for state health officials to relax the thresholds counties must achieve to move from the red tier to orange, and from orange to yellow.
Tulare County’s average rate of 3.1 daily new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents, however, was low enough to advance from red to orange even without the adjustment. It also met the orange-tier qualifications because only 1.8% of people taking coronavirus tests over the course of the week ending March 27 showed positive results for the virus, easily besting the threshold of less than 4%.
Also on Tuesday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced plans to fully reopen California’s economy by mid-June from sweeping measures put in place last year to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
If the state has enough vaccines to give coronavirus shots to anyone age 16 and older who wants one, and if hospitalization rates of COVID-19 cases are low and stable, Newsom said, California will do away with the color-coded tiers on June 15. Businesses and social activities in all counties would be able to resume at pre-pandemic levels, but with continued safety measures including face masks and, in some circumstances, verification of COVID-19 vaccination or negative tests.
“The state will monitor hospitalization rates, vaccine access and vaccine efficacy against variants, with the option to revisit the June 15 date if needed,” a statement from Newsom’s office said.
In the meantime, however, the blueprint and its color-code tiers remain in place, although in Fresno, the Valley and other parts of the state, numerous restaurants, gyms and other businesses reopened indoor operations even under the purple tier, in defiance of the blueprint program.
In addition to Fresno, Kings and Madera, 19 other California counties are in red Tier 2, including San Joaquin County which emerged from the purple tier this week.
Fourteen additional counties besides Tulare moved from red to orange Tier 3, bringing to 32 the number of orange counties.
Only two rural mountain counties, sparsely populated Alpine and Sierra, are in yellow Tier 4, the least restrictive level of the blueprint.
This story was originally published April 6, 2021 at 11:09 AM.
