SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — San Diego County is closer to moving to California's red tier, but wasn't among counties the state said is moving out of the purple tier on Tuesday.
As of Tuesday, the county had an adjusted case rate of 10.8 cases per 100,000 people, just above the needed 7.0 case rate to move into the red tier. The county's positivity rate was 4.2%, which is within California's orange tier range for positivity rate.
The county is also now reporting 11.3 new COVID-19 cases per day per 100,000 people. While San Diego County hasn't made the jump to the red tier, the county is now within the threshold of 14 cases per 100,000 in order to resume all outdoor sports.
With a possible move into the red tier on the horizon, several businesses would be allowed to resume indoor operations with modifications, including:
County Board of Supervisors Chair Nathan Fletcher said while case numbers are dropping locally, residents should stay vigilant and continue health guidelines.
"San Diego County is headed in the right direction, our cases are dropping and the number of vaccines administered continues to lead our state. We are seeing more school openings and know we are on the path to a lower tier. It is vital we continue to do everything we can to slow the spread and continue our forward progress and momentum," Fletcher said in a release.
San Diego County has vaccinated 583,239 residents with first doses (21.7% of the county) and 278,470 with two doses (10.4% of the county). The county's largest vaccination site at Petco Park is set to resume vaccinations on Wednesday after being closed since Saturday due to a shortage in Moderna vaccines.
Though San Diego County wasn't ready to move out of the purple tier on Tuesday, a handful of other California counties were moved up the red tier: El Dorado, Lassen, Modoc, Napa, San Francisco, San Luis Obispo, Santa Clara.
Of California's 58 counties, 40 are now in the purple tier and 16 are in the red. Only two counties are in the orange tier. No Southern California county has yet to move out of the purple tier since the regional stay-at-home order was lifted in January.
It will be three weeks until San Diego County is able to potentially move up a tier. The county must report case rates in the red tier for two straight weeks, before being allowed to move to the red tier on the third week.
