All California counties out of purple tier for the first time

All 58 counties were out of California’s most restrictive purple tier on the state’s reopening tier system Thursday — the first time since the color-coded system was implemented in August.

Twenty-two counties were in the red or “substantial” tier Thursday, and 33 were in the orange or “moderate” tier. Only three counties — Lassen, Sierra and Alpine — had made it to the yellow or “minimal” tier as of Thursday.

The color-coded system guided when and which businesses can open, as well as when school campuses could reopen. When the system was first established, schools could only open for in-person instruction after staying out of the most restrictive purple tier for two weeks. The rules were later tweaked to allow schools to begin offering in-person instruction in the purple tier as long as the average daily rate of new infections in a county is less than 25 per 100,000 residents.

With all counties out of the purple tier, all California schools may offer in-person instruction if prepared. Gov. Gavin Newsom announced earlier this month that the state is moving towards retiring the tier system around June 15.