The OC moved from the ‘purple tier’ to the ‘red tier’ this week, but it is also on the precipice of a milestone that it never hoped to hit. With 151 new COVID-19 cases reported yesterday, the overall tally for the County is now just 4 below 50,000. Undoubtedly that benchmark will be crossed today as more test results roll in. 242 people are currently hospitalized in OC and more than 1056 have passed away due to COVID-19.
The good news is that 43,898 people have recovered from the novel coronavirus to date. The daily number of cases that are positive is declining too. Just a month ago the daily average was over 1000, and we are now at a quarter of that. Subsequently, OC dropped to Tier 2 in the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) framework, due to a positivity rate of 4.2%, and the decline of 5.2 cases per 100,000 people.
Tier 2 is considered a ‘Substantial risk and is categorized as red. Tier 1, where the OC has been until Tuesday, is categorized as purple, and a ‘Widespread risk.’ The new rules allow for movie theaters, restaurants, places of worship to operate indoors at 25% capacity or hold 100 people whichever is fewer. Gyms and yoga studios can resume operations too, though they are also limited to 10% capacity. No such luck for theme parks though, or bars and concert venues. Disneyland will remain closed, and employees at non-essential offices need to continue to work from home.
CDPH has changed the way it assesses indicators to move between tiers and beginning this week will now provide an assessment every 7-days. It is still necessary for a county to remain in each tier for a minimum of three weeks, however, before being able to move to the next tier. Additional rules include having to go through each tier, even if metrics show that the county could advance the region to a more advanced tier. What that means for OC is that it must remain in the red tier until at least September 29, when it could theoretically move to Tier 3, the orange tier, if cases continue to decline.
Orange County Supervisor Lisa Bartlett was pleased with the level of compliance she saw over the long weekend. “We had a lot of people out and about over Labor Day weekend, but I did see a lot of compliance with the state public health guidelines, so that was reassuring,” Bartlett told NBC News. She says she was aware on Friday that the county would be moving into the red tier and spent the weekend helping businesses to facilitate reopening. “I contacted a lot of businesses over Labor Day weekend to get them prepared to rehire staff and getting tables sanitized and (personal protective equipment) in place to pull the trigger when we open today in the red tier,” Bartlett said.
Costa Mesa Mayor Katrina Foley is also enthused that the work of Orange County residents and the public health department is paying off. “So far, so good,” Foley told the LA Times. “It’s great to see our restaurants being able to offer a little bit more capacity. Certainly, getting the health clubs back and adding more capacity at [South Coast Plaza] is a good thing. We just have to keep wearing our masks, social distancing, and avoiding social gatherings and maybe we can get out of this thing.