Santa Cruz Case Count; See What's Open As County Enters Red Tier

SANTA CRUZ, CA — Indoor dining, gyms, museums, nail salons and more may reopen start to reopen in Santa Cruz Wednesday, with safety restrictions in place, after Santa Cruz County moved into the less-strict red tier Tuesday.

County Health Officer Dr. Gail Newel announced in a news release that the county will remove local orders limiting visitors at congregate living facilities such as skilled nursing facilities. People are encouraged to continue wearing masks and practicing social distancing, as COVID-19 still poses a threat to those who are elderly and medically vulnerable.

"This change is a sign of our community’s commitment to health and to each other. The light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter," she said in the news release. "I urge everyone to get a vaccine once they become eligible so that we may continue on this path to recovery."

This marks the first time in four months that any of these activities have been allowed to operate indoors in Santa Cruz County. The county moved into the most-strict purple tier, which indicates widespread risk, in November.

The red tier is one step above the purple tier and indicates substantial risk. There are four tiers in the state's color-coded COVID-19 risk assessment system.

The state allows the following businesses and services to open indoors in red tier, with safety modifications in place:

• shopping centers (50 percent capacity; closed common areas and reduced-capacity food courts)
• indoor dining (25 percent capacity)
• fitness centers (10 percent capacity)
• places of worship (25 percent capacity or 100 people — whichever is fewer)
• nail salons
• massage facilities
• museums (25 percent capacity)
• zoos (25 percent capacity)
• aquariums (25 percent capacity)
• movie theaters (25 percent capacity or 100 people — whichever is fewer)

Santa Cruz County was able to progress into this lower tier after meeting the red tier standards for 14 consecutive days.

Red tier counties must meet the following standards:

• 4 to 7 daily new cases per 100,000 people (seven-day average, with a seven-day lag)
• 5-8% testing positivity rate in the entire county (seven-day average)
• 5.3-8% testing positivity rate in communities most likely to be hit hardest (health equity metric)

Here's how Santa Cruz County compares to those metrics:

• 5.3 daily new cases per 100,000 people: meets red tier standard
• 1.9% testing positivity rate in the entire county: meets orange tier standard
• 3.7% testing positivity rate in neighborhoods most likely to be hit hardest (health equity metric): meets orange tier standard

Now Santa Cruz County eyes a move into the less-strict orange tier, which indicates moderate risk.

Orange tier counties must meet the following standards:

• 1 to 3.9 daily new cases per 100,000 people (seven-day average, with a seven-day lag)
• 2 to 4.9% testing positivity rate in the entire county (seven-day average)
• 2.2 to 5.2% testing positivity rate in communities most likely to be hit hardest (health equity metric)

Nearly 15,000 COVID-19 cases have been reported in Santa Cruz County, including nearly 3,500 in Santa Cruz. There are some 300 active cases as of Monday, the latest information currently available. Nearly 190 deaths here have been linked to the coronavirus.