Santa Barbara County closes in on yellow tier as state aims to reopen

Santa Barbara County is nearing the yellow tier in the state’s reopening system, reporting some of the lowest COVID-19 metrics the region has seen for the entire pandemic. But it won’t matter starting on June 15, when the state plans to no longer use the Blueprint for a Safer Economy.

“In order for us to reach the yellow tier, we need to average less than nine new cases per day, and our case rate needs to be below two,” Public Health Director Dr. Van Do-Reynoso said at a May 21 press conference. “Our testing positivity has been in the yellow over a month. Over the past few days, we have met [the case rate] criteria.”

click to enlarge Santa Barbara County closes in on yellow tier as state aims to reopen
FILE PHOTO BY JAYSON MELLOM
NO MORE MASKS : Beginning June 15, fully vaccinated people will no longer be required to wear masks in California—with some exceptions, such as air travel. CalOSHA (Division of Occupational Safety and Health) is set to release more guidelines soon.

According to the Community Data Dashboard, the county’s adjusted case rate first dipped into the yellow tier threshold (less than 2 percent) on May 16, at 1.8 percent. This is the metric that historically has held the county back as it progressed through the tier system. 

“If we continue to practice precautions to prevent COVID infection, we may get to our first week of credit in the yellow tier as soon as next Tuesday,” Do-Reynoso said, referring to Tuesday, May 25. “Note that we will need two weeks in the yellow before we can move to the yellow tier.”

This means the county could move into the “minimal spread” tier as soon as early June. The yellow tier allows for larger event sizes and greater capacity at businesses like gyms, wineries, and bars. But on June 15, the entire tier system is set to dissolve

“At that time, the entire Blueprint and tier system will have served its purpose, and the Public Health Department will serve in a more advisory role,” Public Health Officer Dr. Henning Ansorg said at the press conference. “We are counting on that—over the next three weeks until then—even more Californians and Americans will take advantage of our outreach efforts to receive the COVID vaccine, which in turn will protect them and everyone around them from severe COVID or death from COVID.”

Ansorg added that health care facilities and other employers will be subject to CalOSHA (Division of Occupational Safety and Health) guidelines on masking at the workplace, which are expected to be updated in late May or early June. 

“Similarly, schools will soon receive an updated masking guidance as well,” Ansorg said. “This will take into account that minors 12 years and older are now able to get immunized.”

Also starting on June 15, the economy can operate with loosened requirements, Do-Reynoso said. 

“We can expect that businesses can open their doors without COVID-19 constraints on capacity or requirements for physical distancing, and where people who are fully vaccinated no longer need to wear a mask in most situations,” she said. 

Ansorg said that even though the Blueprint will be decommissioned in mid-June, reaching the yellow tier before then would still be a significant milestone.

“We’ve never had such low infection rates, we’ve never had such low hospitalization rates, and that is just nice, really reassuring, to see that we are on the right path,” he said.

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