Merced County could be 2 weeks away from next reopening phase under COVID-19 rules
More businesses in Merced County could soon get the thumbs up to reopen, if the trend of decreasing coronavirus infections continues locally.
Amalia Madrigal-Hernandez, public information officers for Merced County Department of Public Health, confirmed Tuesday the county could be two weeks away from exiting the strictest of state-mandated closures for nonessential businesses.
Under the statewide reopening plan, the Merced County is currently classified as “purple,” which is the most restrictive of four color-coded tiers for counties. That means the state defines Merced County as having widespread risk for COVID-19 transmission.
On Tuesday, however, Merced County met compliance for the two required data metrics defined by the state as necessary for increased reopening.
If Merced County moves to the second reopening tier, its color-code will change from purple to red and its transmission risk will be reclassified from “widespread” to “substantial.”
Red tier counties are permitted to reopen restaurants, movie theaters and churches indoors at 25% capacity or 100 people (whichever is less).
Museums and zoos on the red tier can open at 25% capacity. Dance studios, gyms and yoga studios on that tier can open at 10% capacity. Most retail stores and shopping malls may also open inside at 50% capacity.
Body waxing, tattoo and piercing parlors and massage studios can open indoors with precautions.
Colleges would also be allowed to resume indoor teaching at a maximum of 25% or 100 people, whichever is less, but virtual classes are still encouraged.
Several other counties throughout the state met the needed thresholds to advance to the red tier on Tuesday, including Fresno, Butte, Contra Costa, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Santa Barbara and Yolo.
In order to move out of the strictest closure requirements, a testing positivity rate of 8% or less must be met. That data point shows the percentage of residents screened for COVID-19 over the last week whose test results returned positive.
Merced County’s testing positivity has consistently fell below 8% for a number of weeks. As of Tuesday, it was 3.6%.
However, the second required data metric was met for the first time on Tuesday — when the county’s daily number of new positive cases per 100,000 residents fell to seven.
If that local data holds steady for the next two weeks, the county will advance into the red tier, Public Health officials say.
Even if Merced County’s data improves past the red tier, however, it must remain in that status for at least three weeks before moving forward, according to the state’s plan.
More on Merced County COVID-19 data
The Merced County Department of Public Health on Tuesday confirmed the addition of 22 new COVID-19 cases.
Since the first case was reported locally, a total of 8,961 Merced County residents have received a positive laboratory confirmed COVID-19 test.
As of Tuesday, 352 of those individuals are presumed to have active COVID-19 cases. Active cases, an estimate based on the total number of positive cases within the last two weeks, decreased by one since Monday.
No additional coronavirus-related deaths were reported on Tuesday. A total of 143 local deaths have been traced to COVID-19 infections since the pandemic’s start.
Coronavirus outbreaks in Merced County remained stable as well. There are currently 10 active outbreaks locally.
Active hospitalizations due to severe COVID-19 cases, however, did increase by three on Tuesday to 44 current patients. Of those, 12 hospitalized individuals are being cared for within Merced County while the majority are looked after elsewhere.
A total of 690 residents have been hospitalized because of COVID-19 to date.
