Riverside County Meets Criteria For More Reopening: Eyes Sept. 22
RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — New state data released Tuesday show Riverside County has met the state's coronavirus thresholds required to reopen more industry sectors, but it will be at least another week before some local businesses learn whether they may begin welcoming customers again.
For the first time since California's color-coded four-tiered "Blueprint" for reopening was unveiled on Aug. 31, Riverside County has met the criteria for moving from the "purple tier" to the less-restrictive "red tier."
California's color-coded tier levels.
Riverside County has been prevented from moving forward with more reopenings because it has exceeded the state thresholds of an 8 percent coronavirus positivity rate over a seven-day period and a case rate of seven infections per 100,000 population over the same period.
The state data released Tuesday show the county with a 6.4 percent positivity rate and 6.7 case rate. If the county can maintain these figures or improve them, it will move into the red tier on Sept. 22, according to Jose Arballo, spokesperson for Riverside University Health System - Public Health.
A move into the red tier will allow reopening of the following industry sectors:
—Indoor retail (at 50 percent maximum capacity)
—Malls, destination centers, swap meets (at 50 percent maximum capacity with food courts allowed to reopen at reduced capacity; common areas would remain closed)
—Indoor personal care services
—Indoor museums, zoos and aquariums (at 25 percent maximum capacity)
—Indoor places of worship (at 25 percent maximum capacity or 100 people, whichever is fewer)
—Indoor gyms, fitness centers (at 10 percent capacity)
—Indoor restaurants (at 25 percent capacity or 100 people, whichever is fewer)
—Schools can reopen on a widespread basis (without a waiver)
On Tuesday, California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly announced that Inyo, Marin and Tehama counties moved into the red tier.
Ghaly acknowledged that several counties have met the state thresholds to reopen more sectors, and he said there will be an announcement next Tuesday, when it's expected that several more counties will progress into new tiers.
Ghaly did not indicate which counties would progress.
No county moved into the less restrictive orange or yellow tiers this week.
San Diego County, which was moved into the red tier on Aug. 31, has experienced an uptick in its case rate. As of Tuesday, its 8.1 case rate was higher than Riverside County's.
According to Ghaly, state health officials are working closely with San Diego County to prevent a backward move into the more restrictive purple tier that would force newly reopened businesses to close again.
"Our commitment is to work with San Diego County," Ghaly said.
He acknowledged that San Diego County has experienced infection clusters, like San Diego State University, where the total number of student cases has risen above 600 since the fall semester began Aug. 24, but few of those infections have resulted in hospitalization.
Orange County is the only other Southern California county that's been placed in the state's red tier. Tuesday's figures show it has a positivity rate of 3.9 percent and a case rate of 4.7 infections per 100,000 population.
This snapshot provided by the state shows the color-coded tier assigned to each county as of Sept. 15.
The total number of COVID-19 infections in Riverside County recorded since the public health documentation period began in early March now stands at 55,986, compared to 55,766 on Monday, according to the Riverside University Health System - Public Health.
The total number of deaths resulting from COVID-19 crept up by seven on Tuesday to a total of 1,125.
As of Tuesday, there were 155 patients hospitalized countywide for treatment of the virus, up four since Monday. That figure includes 49 people in intensive care units, which is an increase of one patient since Monday.
This article originally appeared on the Temecula Patch
