Tuolumne County remains in purple tier; Calaveras moves to red
County risk levels
Calaveras County moved from the most restrictive purple tier into the less restrictive red tier on Tuesday thanks to declining COVID-19 cases, but Tuolumne County just missed the cut because the latest numbers were slightly too high.
There was still hope for Tuolumne County to move out of the purple tier later this week or next because the state is expected to increase the maximum daily number of cases for the red tier from seven to 10 per 100,000 people, according to Dr. Eric Sergienko, the interim county health officer.
Sergienko said the shift to the higher number of daily cases allowed in the red tier will occur when 2 million people have received a shot of the coronavirus vaccine in what are considered to be the least healthy places in California, which he anticipated will happen by Thursday or Friday.
The news on Tuesday was nevertheless disappointing for Sergienko and others who are eager to see the easing of more restrictions on businesses and other activities.
“I’m as disappointed as everybody else,” he said. “For the size of our population, one or two additional cases are enough to push us over the limit.”
Tuolumne County’s daily case
rate was 7.9 per 100,000 people on Tuesday, up from 5.2 per 100,000 the previous week. The testing positive rate was also increased to 3.4% from 2.1% the previous week. Calaveras County’s daily case rate on Tuesday was 4.2 per 100,000, with a testing positive rate of 2.4%
Data used to determine the county’s tier assignment under the state’s color-coded reopening system is based on the “episode date” for each case, which is defined as the date a person started feeling sick or got tested, as opposed to when it was reported publicly.
Inmate cases from Sierra Conservation Center near Jamestown are also not counted against Tuolumne County’s daily rate. The prison has accounted for 35% of the county’s 3,985 total cases since the pandemic began.
The data for tier assignments also lags a week behind, so the latest week of data used to determine Tuolumne County’s on Tuesday was Feb. 21 through 27. Sergienko said they also factor in the numbers from the week before that, which were slightly lower in Tuolumne County’s case.
Sergienko said they were attempting to appeal to the state that the cases causing the rise in the overall rate were part of small clusters that the county Public Health Department were able to contain, though he didn’t expect the state to show mercy.
“What’s more likely is that the state is shifting its threshold for going from purple to red from seven cases per 100,000 to 10 cases per 100,000,” he said.
If for some reason the state doesn’t change the metric, Tuolumne County would have at least two more consecutive weeks of staying below seven daily cases per 100,000 people
Among the most notable easing of restrictions in going from the purple to the red tier is allowing indoor gyms to operate at 10% capacity and restaurants to provide dine-in service at 25% capacity, though some in Tuolumne County have already been doing that for weeks without any repercussions.
The red tier also allows more activities with regard to schools and youth sports.
Sergienko said the way people can help Tuolumne County reduce the case rate to qualify for the red tier, and eventually the even less restrictive orange and yellow tiers, is through taking personal responsibility to follow the basic protocols for curbing the spread that health experts have promoted throughout the pandemic.
“I almost sound like a broken record, but it really is maintaining the social distancing, wearing your mask, staying home when you’re sick, and then on top of all that, getting a vaccine as soon as you’re eligible,” he said.
The ultimate goal is to avoid getting back to November and December when the county’s daily case rate reached more than 30 per 100,000 at one point as hospitalizations and deaths soared.
Sergienko said being vigilant in taking personal actions to prevent the spread is even more important whenever the state eases restrictions because there has been an uptick in cases anytime it has done so throughout the pandemic.
“When the state lifts restrictions, all that means is we have to be more mindful as individuals,” he said. “It doesn’t decrease our responsibilities, it actually increases our responsibilities.”