Written by Miguel Palacios
Like many other states, California has a color-coded tier system for determining when counties can reopen, based on infection, hospitalization, and death rates due to Covid-19. As of April 15th, San Diego County went from Tier-2 (red) to Tier-3 (orange). This means that the county went from having a “substantial” spread of the virus to “moderate.”
As reported by San Diego News Desk’s own Juan Sebastian Fragozo back in early April, Gov. Newsom announced that California would be open for business again by June 15th. But as the time to reopen approaches, San Diego County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher (D), is not optimistic that San Diego County will be in the least restrictive yellow tier.
Currently, the county’s infection rate is 5 for every 100,000 residents. As the weeks’ progress, infection, hospitalization, and death rates have continued to drop as people continue to be vaccinated. Nevertheless, Fletcher doubts the county’s ability to upgrade to the yellow tier, because it would require the county to have a consistent report of fewer than 2 infections for every 100,000 residents. County health officials have reported that at present, San Diego County has 226 new COVID-19 cases and a positivity rate of just 1.4%. They also report that there are no additional deaths. This is much better than last week’s report, which stated that the infection rate was over 6 for every 100,000 people.
Despite San Diego’s higher vaccination rates, it remains in the orange tier, as both Los Angeles and San Francisco progressed into the yellow tier last Tuesday. Just last March, SD County was in the most restrictive purple tier and we have managed to reach the orange tier in a matter of 6 to 8 weeks. In order for SD County to progress to the yellow tier, it would need to report 2 or less infections per 100,000 residents, have a positivity rate below 2.2%, which it already does, and hold those levels for two consecutive weeks. At a weekly media briefing, SD County health officials reported that over 1 million residents aged 16 and over have been fully vaccinated, which is nearly 60% of the county’s vaccination goal. Vaccination clinics are extending hours into the evening and the weekends to give everyone an opportunity to get vaccinated.
Picture via Sandy Huffaker/Getty Images
