SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Two of the most highly-populated counties in the Sacramento Valley, Sacramento and San Joaquin counties, are on the verge of moving from the purple tier to the red tier on the state's coronavirus risk level scale on Tuesday, provided they keep their numbers low.
Dr. Olivia Kasirye and Dr. Maggie Park, public health officers for Sacramento and San Joaquin counties respectively, said they are looking forward to the move.
“Last week for the first time we actually met both criteria for the red tier,” explained Dr. Kasirye. “So we’re waiting for the results that will come out tomorrow and if we are still meeting the criteria for the red tier, we will officially be able to move into that tier tomorrow.”
“We’ve been watching our numbers drop steadily over the last several weeks,” said Dr. Park. “And I do watch them closely. And we’re in the purple tier right now but it’s looking pretty good. We’ll find out for sure tomorrow whatever color shows up on the map but I am suspecting and expecting we will move into red.”
One of the top things many people are looking forward to with the change is having schools resume in-person instruction.
“They will be able to start looking at reopening in two weeks from now if we do get into the red tier,” explained Dr. Kasirye.
Additionally, gyms will be allowed to open indoors at 10% capacity, retailers and malls at 50% capacity, and restaurants at 25% capacity or 100 people, whichever is fewer.
“Same for places of worship,” added Dr. Park. “They get to move indoors with some restrictions, 25% [capacity] or 100 people.”
But both public health officials insist continuing the tried and true practices of wearing masks, social distancing, and washing hands are essential.
“We need to learn a lesson from the last time around and not relax,” emphasized Dr. Kasirye.
“Not let our guard down,” emphasized Dr. Park. “We want to get our kids back into schools, we want to get our businesses reopened, but we want them to stay open once they open.”
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