Three Bay Area counties move to red reopening tier

Santa Clara, San Francisco, Napa set to ease restrictions on indoor activities

Santa Clara, San Francisco and Napa were among seven California counties that graduated Tuesday from the state’s most restrictive reopening stage, paving the way for a return of indoor dining, workouts and other activities that are now outdoor only.

And this time around, Gov. Gavin Newsom said he expects the looser restrictions will stick, unlike earlier efforts that proceeded in “fits and starts, opening and closing” when infection rates rose and fell.

Newsom said the arrival of vaccines points to a clear path out of the pandemic.

“If we can just maintain the vigilance,” he said, “we won’t see that reclosing, reopening construct that we saw.”

While supplies of the vaccine remain tight nationwide for now, both Newsom and President Joe Biden said Tuesday that the scarcity would not last.

The United States will have enough doses to vaccinate every adult in the country by the end of May, Biden said, two months sooner than his administration had predicted.

California expects to start receiving doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine later this week, Newsom said, and is slated to get more than 1.6 million vaccine doses overall next week when those from Moderna and Pfizer are included. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows nearly 9.5 million doses have been administered in California, and 6.5 million residents have received at least one shot.

“We just need a few more months to bridge,” Newsom said during a news conference Tuesday at a Palo Alto school.

Research released Tuesday showed how effective vaccinations are at protecting those most vulnerable to COVID-19. The number of new infections and deaths at nursing homes plummeted as vaccinations became available to their residents, according to a report from the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living. New infections at those facilities fell by 82% nationwide from the peak of the winter wave in late December to early February, compared with a 46% drop among the general public.

Meanwhile, with the virus in decline across California, 18 counties that are home to a combined 5.2 million people have now advanced out of the most restrictive purple tier of the state’s colorcoded reopening system, which indicates the virus is “widespread.”

Santa Clara County became the largest of the 16 to reach the red tier, for “substantial” spread. Modoc, Lassen and El Dorado counties joined the three from the Bay Area in advancing Tuesday, as did San Luis Obispo, the first in the hard-hit southern part of the state to do so.

Last week San Mateo and Marin counties were the first Bay Area counties to move to the less restrictive stage. So far, only tiny Sierra and Alpine counties have made it to the next level, orange.

Alameda, Santa Cruz and Solano could join the rest of the Bay Area as soon as next week. State data indicates they are among the 12 counties statewide that Newsom hinted Tuesday were “likely” to move into less restrictive stages soon. But the case rate in Contra Costa County remains too high, so it will be at least two weeks before that county can advance.

California’s overall test positivity rate now stands at just 2.3%, the governor said, lower than all but seven other states. Data collected by this news organization shows the seven-day average of new coronavirus cases statewide is just over 5,000 per day, the lowest point since early November. And the numbers of COVID-19 patients in hospitals and emergency rooms have each declined by more than 40% over the past two weeks.

“We are making real progress,” Newsom said.

Starting today, restaurants in Santa Clara, San Francisco and Napa counties may serve diners indoors at up to a quarter of their usual capacity. Movie theaters and museums, which had been restricted to outdooronly operations, can also reopen indoors at 25% capacity, while gyms can allow up to 10% of capacity inside.

Santa Clara County has in the past instituted tighter rules than the state on activities such as indoor dining, but is not doing so now. Santa Clara County Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody said local rules would align with the state’s red-tier guidance in part because of the county’s success in vaccinating older residents who are more vulnerable to COVID-19 — nearly 60% of county residents 65 and older, she said, have received at least one shot.

“We now find ourselves on firmer footing,” Cody said.

Still, Cody appeared to echo the warnings of many epidemiologists and public health experts that indoor dining creates conditions that can help fuel the spread of the coronavirus.

Cody said indoor activities where people are taking off their face masks — as one would in a restaurant’s dining room — are “especially risky” for unvaccinated older adults or those with chronic health conditions. Instead, Cody and others encouraged residents to do as much as possible outdoors, where natural ventilation means spread of the virus is far less likely, and to keep face masks on when inside.

“Just because the state’s framework may allow an activity does not mean it is safe,” Cody said.