Stanislaus County still in coronavirus purple tier. But state update provides good news
Stanislaus County remains in the most restrictive tier of the state’s coronavirus plan, but its testing data in economically disadvantaged areas qualified the county for a jump from the purple tier to red possibly a week from now.
If the testing positivity rates hold for another week, Stanislaus could move to the red tier March 23. That would allow schools to reopen for in-person instruction in grades 7 through 12 and it would relax restrictions on indoor restaurant dining and other business activities.
Stanislaus met the criteria for a tier reassignment through a metric that is not as well known. The California Department of Public Health allows counties to move one tier if two key test positivity numbers meet the requirements two tiers away.
As of Tuesday, the COVID-19 test positivity for all of Stanislaus County was 4.9 percent and it was 4.7 percent in disadvantaged areas that have been stricken by the pandemic. Those two numbers meet the orange tier criteria in terms of positive test rates, which are 4.9 percent for the entire county and 5.3 percent in what the state calls the “health equity quartile.”
The state’s tier system runs from purple, signaling “widespread” transmission, to red for “substantial” spread to orange for “moderate” transmission to yellow for “minimal.”
The state essentially rewards counties for making sure coronavirus transmission is under control in low-income neighborhoods marked by denser housing conditions and barriers to health care. Counties need to do more than slow transmission just in affluent neighborhoods.
Even though Stanislaus County’s positive test numbers met the orange qualifications Tuesday, the county can only move one step to “red” if those numbers hold for another week.
Stanislaus County health officials issued a news release Tuesday urging county residents to take precautions and stay well and help with keeping the numbers down.
In order to change to red tier, the county will need to improve or maintain its test positivity rates for one more week, while also improving or maintaining its daily case rate, the news release said.
“As our cases continue to drop, we must remain vigilant in our efforts in stopping the spread of COVID-19 so more sectors of our community, including our schools, can open,” said Dr. Julie Vaishampayan, county public health officer.
She urged residents to follow the recommendations to prevent the spread of COVID-19, including testing, wearing a mask, distancing and getting vaccinated when it’s their turn.
Residents are asked to limit gatherings and not socialize with people they don’t live with. People should get tested if they have been exposed to coronavirus or have symptoms, and stay home if they are sick.
Turlock Unified School District said in a Facebook post that if the county meets the health measures for a second straight week, the district is prepared to return secondary students to schools March 25.
“With that said, surveillance testing is more critical than ever before as well as other mitigation efforts that include masks, social distancing, ventilation and hand hygiene,” the TUSD post said.
With Tuesday’s update, Stanislaus County’s test positivity easily met the criteria for the red tier. But a second crucial health measure, the 7-day average case rate, was 11.8 per 100,000 population, failing to meet the 10 per 100,000 standard for qualifying for red. The county’s case rate was down from 13.6 per 100,000 the previous week.
Other counties are reassigned to red tier
On Tuesday, 10 counties in California shifted from purple status to red, leaving only 11 counties with the tightest coronavirus restrictions.
San Joaquin and Merced counties remained in the worst tier, leaving a purple belt of hard hit counties in the San Joaquin Valley.
Sacramento, San Diego, Tulare, Sutter, Lake, Monterey, Riverside, Santa Barbara, Tehama and Ventura counties made the switch from purple to red on Tuesday. Thirteen other purple counties were redesignated to red Friday when California reached a goal of 2 million vaccination doses for people living in disadvantaged communities.
When the the state achieved the vaccination goal, the state made it easier for counties to reach the red tier by raising the case rate limit from 7 per 100,000 population to 10 per 100,000.
This story was originally published March 16, 2021 at 1:14 PM.
