Red tier (finally) within reach
EL CENTRO — Imperial County is getting closer to moving into the red tier in the California Blueprint for a Safer Economy after a dramatic decrease in positive COVID-19 cases over the last six weeks.
As of last week, the county had dropped down to 7.9 percent in its seven-day positive test rate. This checked off another of the metrics it has to meet before advancing a tier, which is having a positive test rate of 8 percent or lower.
Imperial County has been locked in the purple (widespread) tier since Gov. Gavin Newsom instituted his California Blueprint for a Safer Economy in late August and has operated under significant restrictions throughout the pandemic.
The county, as Public Health Director Janette Angulo mentioned last week in a joint press conference, has also met the state’s health equity metric with a percentage of 7.2 percent. The county would have to remain at 8 percent for this metric.
The metric the county has yet to meet is the number of new cases per 100,000 residents. At last report, that number sits at 22.5 cases. To be allowed to be moved into the red tier that number would have to drop to seven or lower.
During the second wave the county’s case rate was more than 140 before starting to decline.
Although not an official metric considered for tier placement, the state also is watching the number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients. In the last seven weeks, this number dropped from 205 patients to 30 in Imperial County.
Once the county meets all the numbers needed to stay below the purple metric for two weeks, it can be promoted to the red tier.
To move into the orange tier, the new daily case numbers per 100,000 would have to be one to 3.9, while the seven-day percentage of positive tests would need to be between 2 percent and 4.9 percent and stay there for three weeks.
The state releases its updated numbers at noon on Tuesdays. The state’s adjusted numbers are almost always lower than the county’s figures.
For example, last Tuesday the county reported a seven-day average of more than 19 percent, while the state listed the percentage at 7.9 percent.
The county is bound by the state’s numbers.
Imperial County Public Health Department is watching closely to see if Super Bowl Sunday and Valentine’s Day will result in a surge.
While elementary schools are now eligible to submit plans to reopen now that daily new cases have dropped below 25 per 100,000. However, grades seven to 12 cannot reopen until the county is in the red tier for five consecutive days and a safety plan has been posted on the school district’s website.
The red (substantial) tier allows retail and shopping mall capacity to increase to 50 percent, indoor movie theaters and restaurants at 25 percent capacity, indoor fitness centers at 10 percent capacity and schools from kindergarten to 12th grades to be open for in-person instruction.
More than 11,000 residents have been vaccinated so far in Imperial County.
Angulo said current vaccination efforts are focused on those in education and childcare, food and agriculture, emergency services and people who are at least 65 years of age.