Los Angeles County reached the COVID-19 threshold necessary to reach the “red” tier of the state’s “Blueprint for a Safer Economy” Tuesday, marking the start of a two-week period that could see the county re-open currently-closed sectors before the end of the month.
On Tuesday, California health officials released updated COVID-19 metrics for all counties statewide, which showed that L.A. County had reached the initial threshold to meet the state’s “red” tier for re-opening.
As of Tuesday, the county’s adjusted case rate was 5.2 per 100,000 residents, while its seven-day average test positivity rate stood at 2.5%, while its, according to data from the state.
Once all criteria are met, L.A. County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said at a briefing Monday that she expects reopening could switch on within 48 hours of the announcement. She stated that she expects that announcement to be made early next week.
Once L.A. County transitions from the “purple” to the “red” tier, officials can choose to increase retail capacity and allow several sectors to open indoors with modifications and capacity limits including museums, zoos, aquariums, gyms, movie theaters, restaurants and places of worship.
The county must stay within the state’s metrics of the “red” tier — an adjusted case rate between four and seven cases per 100,000 — for the next two weeks before any further re-openings can occur. Should the cases and test positivity rates remain at or below the red tier metrics next week, the County would move to the red tier on March 17. Reopening allowed under the red tier are as follows:
- Indoor dining at 25% capacity or 100 people, whichever is fewer
- Indoor movie theaters at 25% capacity or 100 people, whichever is fewer
- Indoor places of worship at 25% capacity
- Indoor gatherings with a maximum of three households
- Indoor gyms and fitness centers at 10% capacity, and climbing walls may re-open
- All retail at 50% capacity (up from 25% in purple tier)
- Libraries at 50% capacity, following guidance for retailers
- Shopping centers, including malls, destination centers and swap meets, at 50% capacity (up from 25% in purple tier)
- Indoor museums, zoos, and aquariums at 25% capacity
- Fitness centers in hotels and lodging at 10% capacity
- Outdoor arenas at 20% capacity (starting Apr. 1)
- Theme Parks at 15% capacity, with groups no larger than 10 people (starting Apr. 1)
With elementary schools already beginning to open in Santa Clarita during the “purple” tier, in the red tier, middle and high school can also open, although district guidance may be required before students can return to classrooms.
Additionally, state officials announced Friday that a separate metric had been added that applies to all counties equally in their re-opening process: the number of vaccinations that have been administered in the lowest-resourced neighborhoods.
“Unlike the other three metrics, vaccination numbers will be calculated statewide and used to change the case rate thresholds for counties to move from one tier to another,” reads a statement issued by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (LADPH) Monday.
This metric essentially broadens the threshold for counties once certain milestones are hit, making it easier statewide to reach the next tier in the state’s re-opening plan.
Once two million vaccine doses have been administered across the state to the communities with the lowest score in the Healthy Places Index, the threshold to move from the purple tier to the red tier will go from seven new cases per 100,000 people to 10 new cases per 100,000 people. To move to the orange tier, the threshold will remain at 4 cases per 100,000 people, and to move to the yellow tier, the threshold will remain at 1.
However, once four million vaccine doses have been administered in the state to the communities with the lowest score in the Healthy Places Index, the threshold will change for moving to the orange tier from four new cases per 100,0000 residents to six cases per 100,000 people, and to move to the yellow tier, the threshold will change from one new case per 100,000 residents to two cases per 100,000 people.
California health officials expect to reach the two million dose threshold by the end of the week.
“It is uplifting to know Los Angeles County is close to meeting thresholds that will allow us to move into the State’s less restrictive red tier in California’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy. This means that, as we continue to vaccinate more residents, we are slowing transmission, saving lives, and closer to ending this pandemic,” said Ferrer in a statement Tuesday. “To stay on this trajectory, it is important residents, businesses, and schools follow the safety measures as we together continue to reduce transmission and slow the spread, including wearing masks and physically distancing.”
An additional 1,337 COVID-19 cases were reported in Los Angeles County on Tuesday, along with 70 deaths.
This brings the county’s cumulative total to 1,205,276 positive cases of COVID-19 and 22,099 deaths since the onset of the pandemic, according to the LADPH.
Testing results are available for 5,905,000 people, with a cumulative 19 percent of people testing positive.
As of Tuesday, there were 1,119 people hospitalized with COVID-19, 30 percent of which were in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
The Southern California Region has 27.6% staffed adult ICU capacity remaining as of the state’s last update on Tuesday, March 9, according to state health officials.
Residents are encouraged to continue to prevent the spread of COVID-19, to not gather in crowds, stay home when sick, wear a face covering and maintain physical distance from others when outside of the home.
A travel advisory remains in effect for L.A. County. Anyone who is arriving in Los Angeles County must self-quarantine for 10 days. Residents are asked to remain at home or lodging for 10 days and avoid contact with others.
On Monday, 36 new COVID-19 cases were reported in the Santa Clarita Valley, with 25,793 cumulative cases having been reported in the valley since March of 2020, according to the LADPH. These cases include:
- 19,469 in the City of Santa Clarita* (+30)
- 45 in the unincorporated areas of Bouquet Canyon
- 801 in the unincorporated areas of Canyon Country
- 3,625 in Castaic* (+2)
- 66 in the unincorporated areas of Newhall
- 1 in Placerita Canyon
- 15 in San Francisquito/Bouquet Canyon
- 17 in unincorporated Sand Canyon
- 132 in the unincorporated areas of Saugus
- 40 in the unincorporated areas of Saugus/Canyon Country
- 1,081 in Stevenson Ranch (+3)
- 317 in the unincorporated areas of Val Verde (+1)
- 184 in the unincorporated areas of Valencia
*As of Sunday, March 7, public health officials have recorded 1,978 cumulative cases have been reported at the Peter J. Pitchess Detention Center, including 1,439 at the North County Correctional Facility. Those cases are distributed between both the City of Santa Clarita and Castaic totals. Those cases are distributed between both the City of Santa Clarita and Castaic totals.
In nearby Acton, there have been 455 cumulative cases, as well as 257 (+1) cases in Agua Dulce.
There were seven COVID-19 patients in Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital as of Monday, March 8, while 1,168 patients have been discharged since the hospital’s first case was reported in March 2020, according to Patrick Moody, spokesperson for the hospital.
One additional death was reported at Henry Mayo on Monday, with a total of 145 coronavirus deaths at the hospital, with at least 255 COVID-19 deaths reported across the Santa Clarita Valley since March 2020.
See All Coronavirus Coverage: Coronavirus Coverage – COVID-19 Map
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