Solano County returns to purple

Following Gov. Gavin Newsom’s announcement that he would be lifting the state’s stayat-home order that was implemented for the region in December, Solano County will be reverting back to the purple tier of the state’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy.

This latest action will bring businesses back to the level they were at a few short months ago before the latest COVID-19 surge. Restaurants will now be able to resume outdoor dining, and personal services such as hair and nail salons as well as barbershops will be able to operate indoors again with modifications, Solano Public Health officials wrote on Facebook.

Gyms, fitness centers, movie theaters, museums, zoos, aquariums, places of worship, family entertainment centers, wineries and tasting rooms are among the other businesses that are permitted to reopen, albeit only with outdoor operations.

Retail stores are allowed to operate indoors at a maximum of 25 percent of their normal capacity. Hotels can open with modifications. However, bars, distilleries and breweries that do not serve meals must remain closed.

In December, Newsom announced a more stringent stay-at-home order by region to free up beds as hospitalizations continued to surge. Five Bay Area counties announced they would be issuing the orders before being mandated to by the state, but Solano did not join them for another two weeks until its ICU bed availability dropped below 15 percent. Now the Bay Area’s capacity is above 15 percent, allowing its counties to exit the order, according to a California Department of Public Health news release.

For more information on which activities are permitted in Solano County under the purple tier, go to Covid19.ca.gov/ safer-economy/#countystatus.