Sac County drops back down to purple COVID-19 tier
In a calculated move designed to stem a new coronavirus surge, California health officials on Tuesday demoted Sacramento and two other counties to “purple tier” status, the state’s most restrictive level, a step that will force hundreds of local businesses and houses of worship to once again halt or reduce indoor activities. Public schools that planned to reopen campuses later this month will have to put those plans on hold.
The decision by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Department of Public Health comes as the capital region, the state and the nation experience a long-feared “second wave” of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, eight months after the persistent virus first hit the United States.
It means restaurants in Sacramento and other purple-tier counties must stack up their indoor tables and stick to outdoor dining, just as the cold and wet winter months are about to arrive. Schools that haven’t launched in-person classes by now will have to wait until counties can work their way back to the red tier. Religious organizations offering indoor services will be told to move back outdoors or go to virtual meetings. And with the holiday shopping season nearly here, stores will have to reduce the number of customers allowed in at a time.
State health officials on Tuesday demoted 10 counties in total, moving Stanislaus and San Diego to the purple tier along with Sacramento. Placer and El Dorado counties moved from the orange tier down to the more restrictive red tier. Yolo County, at risk of demotion, stayed in the red tier.
In Sacramento County, health chief Dr. Peter Beilenson has urged families to try a virtual Thanksgiving. Or, if families decide they must gather, he says to do so with no more than three households together. Officials advised doing so outdoors, socially distanced and for a shorter duration than typical.
The latest numbers are showing a spike in cases similar to what occurred early this summer during what has been a rollercoaster year of tightening and easing restrictions.
The state’s assessment this week, which looked at data from Oct. 25 through Halloween, determined that Sacramento County averaged 9.7 new cases per 100,000 residents, well above the cutoff of 7.0 required for the red tier.
The county had 4.1% of tests return positive that week, which is good enough for the orange tier. However, that rate has increased in each of the last three week’s updates, by about half a percentage point.
San Joaquin County remained in the red tier this week, although its new case rate has increased to 8.3 per 100,000 residents per day. Its testing positivity rate remains at 4.3%, good enough for the orange tier.
Last week, San Joaquin County Public Health Officer Dr. Maggie Park told the board of supervisors that the county was headed in the wrong direction and faces relegation back to the purple tier.
Neighboring counties to the south also face possible demotion. Stanislaus County’s case rate increased to 9 news cases per 100,000 residents per day, and Merced County’s jumped to 12.2 cases per 100,000 residents per day.
Both counties have test positivity rates of 4.4% and 4.8%, respectively, which is good enough for the orange tier.
Health officials said the latest spikes are due in part to coronavirus pandemic fatigue that has caused some to let down their guard. In Sacramento, more people have been gathering indoors in groups, notably at house parties and family gatherings, but also at bars, although drinking establishments that do not serve food are not allowed to be open. In many cases, those people are defying state requirements to wear masks.
“This (past) weekend, we saw a sharp increase (in cases), probably due to Halloween celebrations,” said Sacramento County Health Officer Dr. Olivia Kasirye. “People are ignoring our advice not to gather, and we are feeling the impacts of that.”
Newsom made similar comments in a Monday news conference regarding a statewide resurgence of infections.
“People are letting their guard down,” he said. “You’ve got to protect yourself and your loved ones.”
Kasirye said her health team has seen instances of people getting the virus in group or family activities, then transmitting it to nursing homes and other congregate care facilities where the most vulnerable residents live — and where cases are again on the rise.
What must close in Sacramento purple tier
Key effects of the purple-tier designation are:
• Shopping malls will be required to reduce customer capacity from 50% to 25% and close food courts.
• Places of worship must cease indoor services, and hold outdoor gatherings instead.
• Movie theaters must close indoor operations.
• Gyms and fitness centers must again conduct outdoor events only.
• Restaurants, which had been allowed 25% indoor service, must serve outdoors only.
• Museums no longer can open their indoor areas.
Hair salons and barbers are allowed, however, to continue indoor service with limitations. That includes wearing masks. Nail salons, massage therapy and body art also are allowed to continue indoor business. Outdoor playgrounds and recreation facilities are allowed to remain in use.
Kasirye said private schools that are already open will not be affected by the tier change.
“Those schools already open will not be affected,” Kasirye said. “The ones that are opening this week, they officially opened today, so they are still able to go on with their plans.”
Schools that planned to open next week, though, and “those planning to open later in November will have to put their plans on hold,” Kasirye said.
Elementary schools are able to move forward with applying for reopening waivers, and Kasirye said many schools are in the process of applying.
State and county health officials called on people to take more steps to protect themselves and others, including older people and those who have existing health conditions, the two groups that are most likely to die from COVID-19.
“I feel the pain and the disappointment,” Sacramento health officer Kasirye said. “We were doing so well. We need to all come to the realization that all of us need to do our part in following the guidance and not picking and choosing when to wear masks.
“We know it works. We all need to make sacrifices. We need to do it together so that it pays off.”