San Diego County regresses into state’s most restrictive coronavirus tier
San Diego County fell into the most restrictive level of California’s coronavirus reopening system Tuesday, meaning that restaurants, houses of worship, movie theaters and other organizations and establishments must cease or significantly reduce their indoor operations by 12:01 a.m. Saturday.
In the state’s latest tier report, the region had an adjusted case rate of 8.9 per 100,000 residents, over the limit of 7 for the red tier, the county’s previous category.
Taken together with last week’s score of 7.4, San Diego County has had two consecutive weeks of results that push it into the most restrictive of the four levels in the risk-ranking system.
In the unprecedented regression, San Diego County is among those that slide backward in the state’s reopening tiers Tuesday.
As was the case last week, San Diego County did receive an adjustment that lowered its case rate significantly, just not enough to make the 7-case cutoff.
For the most recent seven-day assessment period, Oct. 25-31, local providers collectively performed 334 tests per 100,000 residents, significantly more than the statewide rate of 272. Exceeding the state testing rate dropped the county’s raw score 11.5%, from 10 to 8.9.
Though the county is able to request adjudication of the state’s latest numbers, a spokesman confirmed by email Tuesday that any such appeal would not change the need for businesses to begin complying with purple-tier rules this weekend.
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