Los Angeles, Orange among 13 counties allowed to reopen more – Deadline

The California Department of Public Health today announced that 2 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine have been given to Californians in some of the state’s hardest-hit communities, boosting immunity where rates transmission rate and the state’s disease burden were highest during the pandemic. Once this measure of equity is achieved and because vaccines slow the spread of disease and serious illness, the previously announced update of the Blueprint for a Safer Economy to reflect advances in vaccine delivery comes into effect. force.

This update lowers the thresholds for moving through the color-coded reopening levels of states.

These new thresholds will allow 13 counties to move to a less restrictive level, from purple (widespread) to red (substantial): Amador, Colusa, Contra Costa, Los Angeles, Mendocino, Mono, Orange, Placer, San Benito, San Bernardino, Siskiyou, Sonoma and Tuolumne. Twenty-one counties will remain in the purple level (widespread), 33 will remain in the red level (substantial), three will remain in the orange level (moderate), and one will remain in the yellow level (minimal). These changes will take effect on Sunday March 14.

These regions represent about 15 million of the 40 million inhabitants of the state, a significant sum.

The red level of the state’s reopening plan allows cinemas, museums, zoos, aquariums and restaurants inside to reopen at 25% of their capacity. Theme parks and outdoor live shows such as concerts and sporting events can accommodate 15% participants.

Starting Monday, March 15 at 12:01 a.m., additional areas in LA County may align with red level changes with public health measures in place. pic.twitter.com/Fmdp8SMzDF

– LA Public Health (@lapublichealth) March 12, 2021

Los Angeles County health officials announced on Friday that the local prioritization changes would take effect Monday, instead of the timeline announced by the state on Sunday. See details of reopening theater chains here.

On Tuesday, the state expects Sacramento, San Diego and 11 more counties (Kings, Lake, Monterey, Riverside, San Joaquin, Santa Barbara, Sutter, Tehama, Tulare, Ventura and Yuba) to turn purple to red on the current data base and projections. These level adjustments will be awarded on Tuesday and take effect on Wednesday. If these counties join those announced today in the red level, that will place 25 million of the state’s 40 million residents in the red level.

There is a possibility that other counties may move levels next week based on next week’s Blueprint rating and assignment. The numbers are compiled and then adjusted based on a number of factors determined by the state. In the future, the purple level threshold is greater than 10 cases per 100,000 population.

“California is doubling its mission to make fairness a top priority as we continue to get COVID-19 doses into the arms of all Californians in the safest and fastest way possible,” said Dr. Mark Ghaly, California Secretary of Health and Human Services. Agency. “Focusing on the people who have been hit hardest by this pandemic is the right thing to do and also ensures that we have the greatest impact in reducing transmission, protecting our health care system and saving lives.

On March 4, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that the state had reserved 40% of vaccine doses for the hardest-hit communities and established an equity measure to increase immunizations in those communities. This recognizes that the pandemic has not affected California communities in the same way. Forty percent of COVID cases and deaths have occurred in the bottom quartile of the Healthy Places Index, which provides aggregate scores and data that predict life expectancy and compare community conditions that shape health in statewide.

“Although we have reached an important milestone today, we still have a lot of work to do to help us end this pandemic,” said Tomás Aragón, director of the CDPH and state public health official. . “We all need to do our part by getting vaccinated as soon as it is our turn and continue to wear masks and practice physical distancing to keep our communities safe.