San Mateo County Not Expecting Yellow Tier Move Until Mid-May

SAN MATEO COUNTY, CA — San Mateo County is not expected to move into the least restrictive tier in the state’s reopening blueprint until mid-May.

Though California plans to scrap its tier system and reopen most of its economy on June 15, counties are still currently bound by the system for at least the next couple of months. San Mateo County was hoping that it would move into the yellow tier, but the county saw a recent uptick in its adjusted case rate from 2.0 to 2.5 cases per 100,000 residents.

While the positivity rates meet the yellow tier criteria, the county's adjusted case rate would need to drop below 2 per 100,000 and stay there for at least two weeks for the county to move to the yellow tier and enjoy looser COVID-19 restrictions.

Moving to the yellow tier would allow bars to open indoors while gyms, movie theaters, conferences and other businesses will be allowed to increase their indoor capacity.

“That is unfortunate as we were on the cusp before, but it just goes to show you how this virus acts,” said County Manager Mike Callagy. “We were down and up and now back up slightly, which will not allow us to move to yellow for at least a few weeks.”

Bay City News contributed to this report.