See What Can Open In Walnut Creek; CoCo Moves To Red Tier

WALNUT CREEK, CA — Indoor dining, gyms, museums, nail salons and more may reopen in Walnut Creek and throughout Contra Costa County, with safety restrictions in place, after the county moves into the less-strict red tier Sunday.

The change Friday came after California relaxed its COVID-19 safety requirements after hitting its goal of administering two million COVID-19 vaccine doses in high-risk, needy communities, the county said in a news release.

"It is encouraging to see our data moving in the right direction, and it's a testament to the hard work Contra Costa residents have put in to slow the spread of COVID-19," said Dr. Chris Farnitano, county health officer, in the news release. "But it is important that we make healthy choices to keep up our momentum. This pandemic is not over yet."

This marks the first time in four months that any of these activities have been allowed to operate indoors in Contra Costa 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)

Breweries, distilleries and wineries can open outdoors, with safety modifications, reservations and 90-minute time caps.

There have been 63,830 COVID-19 cases in Contra Costa County as of Friday, including 1,801 active cases and 716 deaths linked to the coronavirus. Walnut Creek has been home to 2,605 cases.