Yolo County was allowed to remain in the red tier on Tuesday even as other counties, including Sacramento, moved back to purple on the state’s blueprint for reopening the economy.
That means restaurants, gyms, places of worship and other businesses will be able to continue indoor operations locally for at least the next two weeks.
The state’s calculations put the average daily new case rate for Yolo County for the week ending Oct. 31 at 6.7 cases per 100,000 residents, under the threshold of seven required to remain in the red tier.
The county’s online COVID-19 dashboard had reported a higher number of cases during that week, but those numbers are often changed after the fact, including when a case is incorrectly attributed to Yolo County.
But while the county avoided a return to purple this week and the subsequent impact on local businesses, the threat remains, with positive cases trending upward.
“While we are not moving into the purple tier this week, we are seeing an uptick in the number of cases reported each day,” said the county’s health officer, Dr. Aimee Sisson.
“Staying in red does not mean we can let down our guard,” she added.
“To protect our community, residents need to continue to wear masks, keep their distance, wash their hands and only gather outdoors in small groups with distancing and masks.”
The county dashboard lists 160 cases during the week ending Nov. 7, which will determine the metrics used in next week’s tier update. At an average of nearly 23 cases per day, that would put the county’s daily new case rate well above the threshold of 7 per 100,000 residents for the purple tier.
But by returning to red tier metrics this week, the county will remain in red for at least the next two weeks. Any move to the purple tier would follow two consecutive weeks of meeting purple tier metrics.
At this point, the soonest the county would move to purple would be Thanksgiving week.
Unlike Yolo County, multiple counties took a step backwards this week, including Sacramento, Stanislaus and San Diego moving back into the purple tier and Placer, El Dorado, Contra Costa and Santa Cruz moving from orange back to red.
Speaking Tuesday, Dr. Mark Ghaly, the state’s secretary of health and human services, noted that no counties progressed forward through the tier system this week and more counties are expected to move backward next week.
Private household gatherings as well as Halloween activities have reportedly contributed to the rise in cases throughout the state since the beginning of the month, and with Thanksgiving and other holidays approaching, state and county officials continue to urge residents to do their part.
“Social gatherings are still a leading cause of COVID-19 cases in Yolo County and everyone has a role to play in keeping businesses open and communities healthy,” Yolo County public information officer Jenny Tan said Monday.
The county, she said, “is aware that residents and families may choose to gather despite local and state health orders mandating physical distance.
“The county hopes that if residents gather, that they do so as safely as possible without jeopardizing the health of their loved ones, friends, and communities by heeding the consideration outlined in the local holiday guidance.”
Tan added that the “best way to protect your health is to not gather at all with anyone outside your household. However, if you are going to gather, please follow the guidance for gatherings.”
That state and county guidance requires that all private gatherings have no more than 16 people from no more than three separate households; be held outdoors and last for no more than two hours.
Since Nov. 1, Yolo County has reported 224 new cases of COVID-19, an average of nearly 25 cases per day.
In just the last few days, the county reported 34 cases on Monday, 31 on Sunday, 41 on Saturday and 29 on Friday.
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The Link LonkNovember 12, 2020 at 08:02AM
https://www.wintersexpress.com/local-news/yolo-county-remaining-in-red-still-seeing-uptick-in-cases/
Yolo County remaining in red for another week - Winters Express
https://news.google.com/search?q=Red&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
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