For the first time, San Bernardino County will enter the red layer of the California coronavirus reopening structure on Sunday, March 14, a change that will allow restaurants, gyms, cinemas and other businesses to serve a limited number of customers in environments closed.
Riverside County is on track to move to the red level on Wednesday if current metrics hold, County spokeswoman Brooke Federico said on Friday, March 12.
San Bernardino County Supervisor Janice Rutherford tweeted on Friday that the county would move from purple, or more restrictive, to red. The four-tier Blueprint for a safer state economy relieves or tightens business restrictions based on a series of metrics, including the rate of new cases per 100,000 residents and the rate of positive results from the COVID-19 tests.
– Janice Rutherford (@JanRutherfordCA) March 12, 2021
In a county press release, the chairman of the Board of Supervisors, Curt Hagman, praised county residents for “(working) tirelessly last year to protect each other’s health and safety”.
“This was a community-wide effort involving everyone, from health professionals and essential workers to companies and residents, following strict public health protocols. Our diligence is now beginning to bear fruit, ”he said.
From January 4 to March 9, the county saw a 99% reduction in the number of new cases of COVID-19, Director of Public Health Corwin Porter said in the statement.
San Bernardino County has never left the purple layer since the structure came into force. Riverside County changed from purple to red in September, but returned to purple a month later amid a statewide increase in cases that prompted Governor Gavin Newsom in December to issue a new home order.
Cases and hospitalizations have been dropping since January, and the modified state guidelines issued last week have allowed Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino counties to move to the red level after 2 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered to the most vulnerable communities. affected areas of California.
After that happened, the state lowered the bar to enter the red layer. Instead of having to have seven new cases per day for every 100,000 residents, counties now only need to have 10 new cases per 100,000 to qualify for red-level status.
The San Bernardino County case rate is currently 5.2 cases per 100,000, its positivity rate is 2.8% and its positive test rate in underserved communities is 3.2%, according to Porter, the director of public health.
Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino counties have been below the limit of 10 cases in the past two weeks, while Riverside County has been below 10 cases for a week.
In an email on Friday, Riverside County spokeswoman Brooke Federico said she “is on her way” to the red level because her rate of positive testing in underserved communities is low. According to state guidelines, this low rate of positivity allows the county to move forward in the tier system, she said.
“According to the accelerated progression of health equity metrics, we already have a week to reach the red level metrics,” said Federico. “If these metrics continue, we hope to move to the red level on Wednesday.”
Riverside County had the state’s worst-case rate adjusted for several weeks in January and February, and although the numbers have since dropped – currently they have fallen more than 90% from the peak of two months ago – the county rate has remained slightly more higher than its neighbors.
Los Angeles County will move to the red level on Monday, March 15.
The change to the red level will allow restaurants to dine indoors with a maximum capacity of 25% or 100 people, whichever is less. Gyms / gyms and museums can also resume internal operations, while malls, stores and personal care services can allow more customers to enter.
Schools also have the green light to resume face-to-face learning for grades 7-12, subject to conditions, although the decision on whether to reopen is up to each school district.
Editors Nikie Johnson and David Rosenfeld contributed to this report.