Madera County advances into state’s orange COVID reopening tier. Here’s what that means
Fresno County remains in a holding pattern this week in California’s coronavirus-reopening program, still in orange Tier 3 with a “moderate” rate of spread of COVID-19 within the county.
Nearby Madera County, however, made enough progress with its rates of new COVID-19 cases, as well reducing the percentage of people who test positive for the virus, to advance from red Tier 2, representing “substantial” viral transmission, into orange Tier 3 in the latest assessments announced Tuesday morning by the California Department of Public Health.
New tier assignments take effect on Wednesday.
At this point, every county in the central San Joaquin Valley except for Merced is in the orange tier, the second-least restrictive level of the state’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy. The blueprint and its tiers are intended to provide for a gradual reopening of businesses and other activities from broad closures and restrictions enacted last year to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus from person to person.
None of California’s 58 counties remains in purple Tier 1, the most restrictive of the blueprint’s levels denoting “widespread” transmission of the virus.
For Madera County, the move from red to orange enables greater flexibility for many business sectors to reopen or expand their indoor operations.
The differences in what can be open, and to what extent, are significant between the red and orange tiers. In the red tier, restaurants can open their dining rooms to serve customers, but only at 25% of capacity. Movie theaters, museums and some other indoor activities are also limited to 25% of capacity, while fitness clubs and gyms are limited to 10% of capacity.
In the orange tier, restaurants, movie theaters and museums can expand to 50% of their capacity, while gyms can be open at up to 25% of capacity.
Restrictions are also loosened in the orange tier for such activities as private gatherings, private events, family entertainment centers and outdoor live events such as sports or concerts.
Regardless of which tier a county is in, however, there are operational modifications for all business sectors – including requirements for staff and customers to wear face masks and other safety precautions including physical distancing – that continue to apply.
Case rates and testing positivity for Valley counties that formed the basis for Tuesday’s tier assignments cover the week ending May 1.
The red tier indicates that “substantial” transmission of the novel coronavirus is continuing in a county, based on the rate at which new daily cases of COVID-19 are arising and the percentage of people tested for the virus for whom results come back positive. Orange Tier 3 denotes “moderate” spread of the virus in a county.
Other orange-tier counties are hopeful of advancing in the coming weeks into yellow Tier 4, the least restrictive level of the state’s reopening blueprint. But to do so, a county needs to meet the yellow-tier criteria for at least two weeks – a rate of daily new COVID-19 cases down to less than two per 100,000 residents, and a rate of less than 2% of people getting tested for coronavirus having results come back positive for the infection.
For the week ending May 1, Fresno County recorded an average of 4.3 new confirmed coronavirus cases per 100,000 residents. That’s down from 4.6 daily cases a week earlier, and remains below the orange-tier ceiling of six cases per day. Among residents who were tested for coronavirus during the week, 2.2% tested positive for the virus, unchanged from the prior week, and safely below the 5% threshold to stay in the orange tier.
But those numbers aren’t low enough yet for Fresno to advance. It will take at least two weeks before Fresno – or Kings, Mariposa or Tulare counties – could move forward into the yellow tier.
Valley counties’ case and testing rates reported Tuesday include:
Kings County, remaining in the orange tier: A seven-day average of 4.6 new confirmed coronavirus cases each day per 100,000 residents, up from 4.2 a week prior. Testing positivity was unchanged at 1.5% of coronavirus tests coming back with positive results.
Madera County, now in the orange tier: A seven-day average of 3.1 new daily cases per 100,000 residents, down from 4.9 the prior week. Testing positivity was down to 1.6%, compared to 2.2% a week earlier.
Mariposa County, remaining in the orange tier: A seven-day average of 4.0 new daily cases per 100,000 residents, down from 7.2 a week earlier. Testing positivity was halved to 1.3%, compared to 2.6% the prior week.
Merced County, remaining in the red tier: A seven-day average of 7.8 new daily cases per 100,000 residents, down from 8.9 the prior week. Testing positivity was down slightly to 3.2%, compared to 3.3% a week earlier.
Tulare County, remaining in the orange tier: A seven day average of 3.0 new daily cases per 100,000 residents, up from 2.7 a week earlier. Testing positivity was also up slightly, rising to 1.3% compared to 1.2% the prior week.
The statewide view
Merced County is among 11 California counties that remain in red Tier 2, indicating continued “substantial” spread of the virus in the county. The others are Del Norte, Nevada, Placer, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Shasta, Solano, Stanislaus, Tehama and Yuba counties.
In addition to Fresno, Kings, Madera, Mariposa and Tulare counties, 33 other California counties are in orange Tier 3, denoting “moderate” transmission of COVID-19. They include Alameda, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, Contra Costa, El Dorado, Glenn, Humboldt, Imperial, Inyo, Kern, Lake, Marin, Modoc, Monterey, Napa, Orange, Plumas, Riverside, San Benito, San Bernadino, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Siskiyou, Sonoma, Sutter, Tuolumne, Ventura and Yolo counties.
Nine counties are in the least-restrictive yellow Tier 4. On Tuesday, Mono and San Mateo counties joined Alpine, Lassen, Los Angeles, Mendocino, San Francisco, Sierra and Trinity counties in the yellow tier.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced plans last month to fully reopen California’s economy and lift the blueprint tier system by mid-June under certain conditions, including 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.
If those conditions hold, businesses and social activities in all counties would be able to resume at pre-pandemic levels on June 15, but with continued safety measures including face masks and, in some circumstances, verification of COVID-19 vaccination or negative tests.
California has reported almost 3.7 million confirmed coronavirus cases since early 2020, including 61,241 deaths.
This story was originally published May 11, 2021 at 11:21 AM.
