Data keeps Stanislaus County in red coronavirus tier. But for how long?
Stanislaus County met the state’s criteria in an update Tuesday for staying in the red tier of California’s coronavirus plan for reopening the economy.
County residents and business owners can count on staying in the red tier at least until mid-April with lighter restrictions on businesses and activities.
According to the California Department of Public Health, the county’s daily rate of COVID-19 cases was 11.2 per 100,000 population, still above the 10 per 100,000 limit for being in the red tier.
The county continued to meet the red criteria with test positivity data, however. The positive test rate for the entire county was 4.6 percent, down from 4.96 a week ago, and the positivity rate was 5 percent in underserved neighborhoods.
A state spreadsheet showed Stanislaus was not in danger of moving to the more restrictive purple tier. Under the state system, counties need to meet criteria for moving to a more restrictive tier or a less restrictive one for two consecutive weeks. The state updates the tier status for counties on a weekly basis.
Stanislaus County was in the most restrictive purple tier for 18 weeks before it was reassigned to red last week. The red tier indicates there is substantial spread of COVID-19 illness in the community.
In a presentation to county supervisors Tuesday, Dr. Julie Vaishampayan, county public health officer, said confirmed cases of COVID-19 are on a downward trend for now. She said COVID-related hospital admissions are still “a little too high” at around 80 patients.
County officials are keeping an eye on rising infections in other regions of the country in hopes the Central Valley won’t experience another surge of COVID-19 disease.
The county has made progress with the reopening of more businesses and students returning to schools in grades 7 through 12. The county wants to stay in the less restrictive tier status, so restaurants and other businesses can survive and people are working.
Officials said the county is seeing a natural decline in coronavirus testing due to vaccinations and the lower rate of infection. The testing decline could create a problem for staying in the red tier.
The state adjusts the county data when local testing falls below the state median in California. Also, a smaller number of negative test results are recorded against the positive tests.
“We need as many people as possible to continue to take COVID-19 tests,” county Chief Executive Officer Jody Hayes said.
The county Health Services Agency has information about free coronavirus test sites at www.schsa.org.
This story was originally published March 30, 2021 at 1:18 PM.
