SLO County slides back into the purple COVID tier as cases soar. Here’s what happens now
San Luis Obispo County reverted back to the most restrictive purple tier of California’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy on Monday due to widespread coronavirus transmission, according to the California Department of Public Health.
The state agency released updated metrics a day ahead of normal on Monday, and they showed a surge across California, forcing counties up and down the state into a new round of business hardships.
Thirty-nine of the state’s 58 counties were demoted in total, with 28 moving to purple.
The state’s mask mandate has also been updated. Masks are now required whenever people leave their houses, with very few exceptions, the state health department said in its updated reopening “blueprint” guidelines.
COVID-19 activity has exploded in California in November. The state has reported an average of 7,000 new daily cases over the past two weeks, up from a little over 4,100 to start the month. Total hospitalizations and cases in intensive care units with the disease have shot up 52% and 46%, respectively, in those two weeks.
The state Department of Public Health called the state’s recent increase an “unprecedented surge in (the) rate of increase of cases,” and Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office in a statement said the state is “pulling an emergency brake” to halt the spread.
The state made changes to the tier list process as well. It’s now more continuous, tiers can change daily rather than on a weekly basis and the state says it can move counties back more than one tier if necessary. Counties previously had three days to implement the changes; but, because of “the extreme circumstances requiring immediate action, counties will be required to implement any sector changes the day following the tier announcement,” CDPH writes.
With Monday’s moves, more than 94% of California by population will be in the tight purple-tier requirements.
California over the weekend officially surpassed 1 million lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19. More than 18,250 Californians have died of the disease, including 34 in San Luis Obispo County.
In San Luis Obispo County, within 24 hours, restaurants, gyms and places of worship — which have been allowed to operate indoors at limited capacity — will have to shift back to outdoor-only operations.
Other businesses, such as retail stores, will be required to limit indoor capacity.
Schools that have not yet reopened will not be allowed to do so until the county returns to the red tier and remains there for at least two weeks.
The county’s return to the purple tier was expected. County Public Health Officer Dr. Penny Borenstein had advised business owners and residents to prepare for more restrictions soon at a news briefing Thursday.
“No manner of testing is going to make up for the amount of cases that we’re seeing,” Borenstein said Thursday.
However, until Monday it was believed that businesses would have three days to adapt, rather than one. The county said in a news release that they would give businesses a two to three day grace period.
“Such change in business practice is not easily achieved overnight. We ask that our businesses make these changes right away, but we understand that it may take a matter of 2-3 days for universal compliance,” Borenstein said in a news release. “We intend to educate rather than come down with robust enforcement action over the next few days.”
Why is SLO County back in the purple tier?
A continued increase in case rate since late October led to San Luis Obispo County’s purple tier status, despite both positivity rate and health equity quartile positivity rate remaining within the moderate tier range.
A rise in positive tests among students at Cal Poly, the San Luis Obispo university, contributed greatly to the rise of SLO County cases. That being said, they were not the sole contributors.
“I hear a lot of people blame Cal Poly for this and I want to be perfectly clear: No single group in our community is to blame,” Borenstein said in the release. “Even if we removed cases among Cal Poly students, our case rate would still likely put us back in the purple tier, according to our local data.”
Monday marks the second consecutive week with an adjusted case rate above the threshold of the red tier — 7 new cases per day per 100,000 people. Case rate is adjusted by the number of tests conducted within the county per day.
Between Nov. 1 and Nov. 13, the county has added 728 coronavirus cases, which is more than the number of cases added throughout the entire month of October.
While state data is typically released Tuesdays, the CDPH released new data Monday. The latest state data accounted for coronavirus cases between Oct. 27 and Nov. 10
The county’s adjusted average skyrocketed to 12.5 new cases per 100,000 people per day, which is 5.5 points above the level needed to qualify for the red tier, according to state data. The unadjusted case rate came in at 17.7, more than 7 points higher than data released the week prior.
San Luis Obispo County’s positivity rate was at 4.7% as of the latest data, representing a 1.7-point increase from the week prior. Monday’s data showed the second consecutive week of a 1.7-point positivity rate increase. However, according to ReadySLO.org, the county was at a 5.1% positivity rate Monday.
The health equity metric remained at a 4.8% rate for people who live in the 12 census tracts in San Luis Obispo County ranked in the lowest quarter of California’s Health Place Index.
How can SLO County enter the red tier again?
The county will now remain in the purple tier for at least three weeks, according to state guidelines.
To reenter the red tier, the county would need to do the following for two consecutive weeks:
- Have an adjusted case rate of fewer than 7 new cases per 100,000 people. In San Luis Obispo County, that would mean recording fewer than around 19 new cases per day. The number of cases would be offset slightly depending on the number of coronavirus tests conducted per day.
- Maintain a positivity rate less than 8%. While the positivity rate has elevated slightly, staying below 8% has never been an issue in San Luis Obispo County.
- Maintain a positivity rate of less than 8% among people who live in the 12 SLO County census tracts that are considered to be in the lowest quartile of California’s Health Equity Index.
The county’s case rate has risen substantially in the last two weeks, but Borenstein said the county can get back to red-tier levels if the right precautions, such as avoiding gatherings and wearing masks, are taken.
“We’ve done it before,” Borenstein said about meeting red-tier requirements. “We can do it again.”
This article has been updated to reflect that businesses have one, not three days to comply with state guidelines, according to new guidance from the state.
This story was originally published November 16, 2020 at 12:42 PM.
