Santa Cruz County is bound for the red tier
Even with the positive news, health officials urge caution
SANTA CRUZ >> Starting at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, entering the red or “substantial” tier of the Blueprint of a Safer Economy framework will open new possibilities for Santa Cruz County.
Tier statuses for each county, released just before noon Tuesday, went live on the California Department of Public Health website. Seven counties, including Santa Cruz County, traveled down one tier. No counties moved up a tier.
In a press release from the County of Santa Cruz Health Services Agency, officials credited the continued improvement in COVID-19 transmission rates throughout the jurisdiction for the improvement in tier. County residents haven’t seen capacity rates this elevated since early November, when surges had the majority of the five state regions climbing up the blueprint’s tiers. Since exiting the regional stay-at-home order in January, Santa Cruz County has consistently been moving down tiers.
The county did caution in its statement that COVID-19 is still very much present in the community and a danger to those unvaccinated, specifically the elderly, as well as medically vulnerable residents.
Residents should still wear masks and practice social distancing while in public, the county said. This notion is supported by a Monday statement from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that included vaccinated people should still wear a mask and stay six feet apart in public despite having new freedoms around gathering.
“This change is a sign of our community’s commitment to health and to each other. The light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter,” Santa Cruz County Health Officer Dr. Gail Newel said in the statement. “I urge everyone to get a vaccine once they become eligible so that we may continue on this path to recovery.”
To date, nearly 97,000 shots of the COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in Santa Cruz County, the state’s vaccine page showed Tuesday afternoon.
In the last week, the county’s new COVID-19 cases per day per 100,000 figure dropped from 7.0 cases per day per 100,000 to 6.7 cases per day per 100,000. The adjusted case rate for tier assignment dropped from 6.5 cases per 100,000 in the last seven-day average to 5.3 cases per 100,000 in this seven-day average. The positivity rate dropped from 2.9% to 1.9% between the seven-day averages, while the health equity quartile positivity rate is in orange tier territory at 3.7%.
TAlkio- tiEr rEstriCtioos
Descending into the red tier means indoor dining at 25% capacity for restaurants who otherwise have only been able to offer outdoor dining during wind and rain storms in the last few months. The option
comes at a time when forecasts show clouds, sprinkles and lowered temperatures on and off for the next week.
In addition, movie theaters and places of worship can open at 25% capacity or 100 people, whichever is fewer. Museums and aquariums may reopen at 25% capacity. Gyms can open at a 10% capacity and retail can increase their operations to 50% capacity. This includes climbing walls and hotel fitness centers, the county added in their response to the tier change.
Bars and breweries remain closed while wineries are allowed outdoor operations only. Non-essential offices should still be closed with workers operating remotely.
There’s hope that by the end of the month Santa Cruz County could enter the orange or “moderate” tier, Newel said during the county’s weekly health leadership press conference last week.
In the orange tier, restaurants can offer indoor dining at a 50% capacity while movie theaters can offer viewings at 50% capacity and gyms can operate indoors at a 25% capacity. Museums and aquariums would be open at 50% capacity. According to the Blueprint for a Safer Economy framework, no percentage cap is placed on retail when in the orange tier but owners will still have to operate with some modifications.
Bars and breweries would be open outdoor only while wineries would be open indoors
at 25% capacity. Nonessential workers could return to their offices, though telework would still be encouraged by the state of California.
The county could more easily shift down tiers as the state meets its goals under the new vaccine equity metric, an effort announced by Gov. Gavin Newsom last week in an effort to provide more vaccines to those in areas with the lowest Health Place Index numbers, individuals who have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. For example, when 2 million doses have been administered to individuals living in those most impacted areas, the purple tier’s adjusted case rate will move from greater than seven cases per 100,000 to greater than 10 cases per 100,000 and the red tier’s adjusted case rate will widen to four to 10 cases per 100,000. Orange and yellow tier adjusted case rates will remain the same.
It is expected, according to literature from the state, that certain sector-specific guidance will change to permit activities based on risk levels in a way that keeps case transmission as low as possible. No specific sectors set to be altered by learnings from the last year have been named.
Recently, the state also announced that on April 1 outdoor live events can reopen at 20% capacity and amusement parks, including the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, can reopen at 15% capacity. Due to these and other changes, the county announced Tuesday, Newel has elected to remove orders restricting visitors at skilled nursing facilities and other congregate living settings. This will be a relief for those in Santa Cruz County who were, at one point in time, visiting their loved ones in the facilities solely through video calls or window visits.