Merced County finally breaks into state’s orange COVID reopening tier
Fresno County and most of its neighboring counties in the central San Joaquin Valley maintained their places in California’s color-coded system for lifting business restrictions established to blunt the spread of COVID-19 across the state.
Merced County, which spent the past five weeks in the second-most restrictive level of the state’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy, finally was promoted Tuesday from red Tier 2 into orange Tier 3, joining four other Valley counties in being able to allow more businesses to reopen or expand their capacity. The latest tier assignments were posted Tuesday morning by the state Department of Public Health.
Mariposa County advanced into yellow Tier 4, the least restrictive tier representing “minimal” spread of the virus.
The new statuses for Merced and Mariposa counties officially take effect on Wednesday.
Now five Valley counties – Fresno, Kings, Madera Merced and Tulare – reside in the orange tier, which represents “moderate” spread of coronavirus within the community based on the rate of new cases and percentages of people testing positive for the virus in the week ending May 15.
It’s appearing less likely that any other Valley counties will advance into yellow Tier 4 – the least restrictive level representing “minimal” viral transmission – before June 15, when California lifts its reopening blueprint and the tier system and relaxes other safety requirements such as requiring face masks in many settings.
That’s because before being promoted to a less stringent tier, a county must meet all of the criteria for the lower tier for two weeks. So far, neither Fresno, Kings, Madera nor Tulare counties have reached the yellow-tier thresholds.
In the data published Tuesday by the state for the week ending May 15, Fresno County achieved a rate of 3.1 new coronavirus cases each day per 100,000 residents. That’s down from 4.1 cases per 100,000 the prior week, but not yet enough to reach the yellow-tier qualification of fewer than two new daily cases per 100,000 residents.
Fresno County’s testing positivity rate – the percentage of people tested over the course of the week whose results came back positive for a COVID-19 infection – was 1.9%. That’s below the 2% yellow-tier threshold. A third measure, a health equity score reflecting the percentage of positive tests in the county’s most disadvantaged neighborhoods, was at 2.8%, above the yellow-tier ceiling of 2.2% or less.
The metrics for neighboring Valley counties include:
- Kings County: A rate of 2.9 new daily COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents, down from 4.1 the prior week; a testing positivity rate of 1.3%, down from 1.7% a week earlier; and a health equity score of 0.7%, down from 2.5% the prior week. While the testing rate and health equity measures fall within the yellow-tier criteria, the rate of new cases per 100,000 continues to reflect “moderate” transmission of the virus.
- Madera County: A new-case rate of 3.0 each day per 100,000 residents, up slightly from 2.6 the prior week; a test positivity rate of 1.5%, compared to 1.6% a week earlier; and a health equity score of 1.8%, up from 1.4% the prior week. The new-case rate remains in the orange-tier range.
- Mariposa County: A new-case rate of 1.6 cases each day per 100,000 residents, down from 2.4 the prior week; and a testing positivity rate of 1.0%, a slight decrease from 1.1% a week earlier. As a sparsely populated county, the health equity metric does not apply to Mariposa County. The state promoted Mariposa County into the yellow tier after reconsidering its data for the prior week.
- Merced County: A new-case rate of 4.1 cases each day per 100,000 residents, down from 4.6 the prior week; a test positivity rate of 2.1%, compared to 2.3% a week earlier; and a health equity score of 1.3%, down from 2.6% the week prior. All three scores were low enough to move the county from red Tier 2, representing “substantial” spread of COVID-19 in the county, into orange Tier 3.
- Tulare County: A new case rate of 3.7 cases per day per 100,000 residents, up from 2.8 the previous week; a test positivity rate of 1.9%, rising from 1.2% a week earlier; and a health equity score of 2.8%, up from from 1.6% the prior week. Neither the new-case rate nor the health equity percentage are low enough for Tulare County to advance from the orange tier into yellow.
What do the changes mean?
For Merced 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.
In Mariposa County, getting back into yellow Tier 4 for the first time since November means even more latitude for businesses and gatherings than what was afforded in orange Tier 3. Notably, bars that don’t serve food can reopen for indoor service in the yellow tier. They could only operate outdoors in the orange tier, and were closed entirely in both purple Tier 1, denoting “widespread” transmission of the virus, or red Tier 2.
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.
The statewide picture
Mariposa and Inyo counties were the only two California counties to earn new places in the yellow tier of the statewide blueprint. They join Alpine, Amador, Lassen, Los Angeles, Mendocino, Orange, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Trinity counties in the least restrictive level of the reopening program.
Placer County joined Merced in advancing from red to orange on Tuesday. Of California’s 58 counties, 35 are now in orange Tier 3. Their emergence leaves only eight counties still in red Tier 2, including Del Norte, Nevada, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Shasta, Solano, Stanislaus and Yuba counties.
No counties are in purple Tier 1, which was the most restrictive tier of the blueprint from the time the system was introduced last August.
In three weeks, on June 15, California businesses will be able to open their doors without the COVID-19 capacity and social distancing restrictions that have been in place for more than a year. State health officials last week announced that not only would the blueprint and its tier system be lifted on that date, but that’s also when California will allow for vaccinated people to be able to take off their masks in any social setting in accordance with new guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, though residents who are not fully vaccinated should continue wearing face coverings.
Gov. Gavin Newsom had previously said in April that if hospitalization rates from COVID-19 remained low, and there was ample supply of vaccines for California residents, that would allow the blueprint restrictions to be lifted.
California is recommending, but not requiring, outdoor venues with more than 10,000 attendees check vaccination status or negative COVID-19 tests before guests enter. For attendees who aren’t vaccinated or did not get tested, venues should require masking.
The new guidelines will also cap indoor venues at 5,000 attendees and require proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test.
The Sacramento Bee contributed to this report.
This story was originally published May 25, 2021 at 10:21 AM with the headline "Merced County finally breaks into state’s orange COVID reopening tier."
