Yuba-sutter continues to move toward red tier

The Yuba-sutter area’s COVID-19 case count and test positivity rates continue to improve, but while the numbers are nearing an eventual transition into the state’s next least-restrictive tier, they aren’t quite there, yet.

Currently, Sutter County is averaging 14.7 new cases per day per 100,000 people, with a test positivity of 6 percent. Yuba County is averaging 15.2 new cases per day per 100,000 people, with a test positivity of 7.2 percent. To move from the purple tier to the red tier, the area would need to drop between 4-7 new cases per day per 100,000 people, and test positivity rates would need to remain below 8 percent.

Bi-county Health Officer Dr. Phuong Luu said the latest statistics are good news and show the Yuba-sutter area is headed in the right direction. She encouraged residents to remain vigilant.

“We’ve seen that

‘dance’ in lowering and rising case counts throughout this crisis, so we all know how precarious the situation is,” Luu said. “While we continue to roll out the vaccine and slowly build up herd immunity, it remains paramount to continue wearing a well-fitted mask, avoiding gatherings, and staying home when sick.”

Luu said Public Health has enough doses to ensure that all registered persons (800 people) ready for their second dose of the vaccine will be accommodated at a clinic scheduled today (just for second doses).

Yuba County spokesperson Russ

Brown said there are

1,200 doses available for this Saturday’s clinic. Registration for the clinic opens this morning.

Registration information for countysponsored clinics can be found at yuba.org/ vaccines or suttercounty. org/vaccine, or by calling 634-7496 (Yuba County) or 822-5985 (Sutter County).

The registration period has opened at 9 a.m. on Wednesdays for the past several weeks. Those eligible to sign up at this point include frontline workers (ages 50-64 years old) in education and childcare, food and agriculture, and emergency services, as well as healthcare workers and Yuba-sutter residents 65 years and older.

The number of COVID-19 cases in the Yuba-sutter area increased by 25 on Tuesday, bringing the total to 14,537 cases. There are currently 341 active cases in the area.

Thirty-six people were hospitalized as of Tuesday evening, while 54 people recovered from the virus. To date, 132 Yuba-sutter residents have died from the virus.