Marin, Monterey counties advance to yellow tier

San Benito County is also at the level, and Solano and San Joaquin counties move to orange

Marin, Monterey and San Benito counties have moved into California’s least restrictive COVID-19 tier just two weeks before the state phases out its color tiers entirely as part of a major easing of pandemic rules and restrictions.

The three counties were moved to the yellow tier on Tuesday, indicating that the spread of the virus there is “minimal.” The change is a positive indication that efforts to control the virus have met some success.

It also allows those counties to reopen for some indoor service bars that don’t serve food, as well as expanding indoor capacities for some businesses such as gyms, museums and water parks.

Solano and San Joaquin counties, meanwhile, advanced to the orange tier, indicating a “moderate” risk of transmission.

Those counties will be allowed to expand capacity at indoor restaurants, double capacity in churches and other places of worship and reopen indoor pools at hotels, among other easing of restrictions.

The move into the yellow tier was a long time coming for the county, which had been in the orange tier since March 24 and had come close to advancing on

previous occasions, Marin County spokeswoman Laine Hendricks said.

“We’re thrilled that we can finally cross that line,” she said.

She credited the county’s success in vaccinating residents in driving down the number of deaths, hospitalization and lowering the case rate enough to make Marin eligible for the yellow tier. Over the past few months, she said, 93 percent of new cases have been among people who are unvaccinated or who have not yet completed their vaccine cycle.

“Our community has earned the freedom to open more safely,” Dr. Matt Willis, Marin County’s public health officer, said in a statement. “Our data shows clearly that vaccines work.”

Last week, Marin County closed two mass vaccination sites in hard-hit San Rafael that had distributed a combined 120,000 vaccine doses. The county is shifting toward mobile clinics that can more easily reach people struggling to access vaccinations, the county said in a news release.

The new rules for counties entering the yellow and orange tiers will be short-lived. On June 15 California is moving “beyond the blueprint,” retiring the color tiers and lifting most COVID-19 capacity and distancing restrictions. Only indoor events with more than 5,000 people will be required to ask attendees for proof of vaccination or a negative test. That will also be recommended for outdoor events with more than 10,000 attendees.

Two other Bay Area counties in the orange tier — Napa and Alameda — could be eligible to move to the yellow tier by next Tuesday. That would leave Sonoma, Solano and Contra Costa counties as the only remaining orange tier counties in the region.

Statewide, 48% of Californians live in yellow tier counties. And only four counties — Del Norte, Shasta, Yuba and Stanislaus — remain in the red tier indicating a “substantial” COVID-19 spread. There are no counties in the most restrictive purple tier.