Three counties move back to most restrictive Covid tier

As Covid-19 cases in California continue to spike for a second week, three counties have slid back on the state’s reopening tier system to the purple or “widespread” tier, Health and Human Services officials announced Tuesday.

Sacramento, San Diego and Stanislaus counties moved from the red “substantial” tier back to the purple, meaning schools that were not yet open for in-person instruction cannot do so unless they have a waiver from the county public health office.

As of Nov. 10, 13 of California’s 58 counties were in the purple tier, serving about 3,424,399 students — 55.56 % of the state’s total student body. Those 13 counties include 399 public school districts and 787 charter schools.

Schools that were already offering in-person instruction in those counties can continue to do so, but they must increase Covid-19 testing for staff, according to the state guidance.

The state recommends that all schools that are open for in-person instruction test staff once every two months, or 25% of staff every two weeks. A school in a county that moves back into the purple tier should exceed this.

All schools are required to close when at least 5% of staff and students test positive for Covid-19 within a 14-day period. School districts must close if one-quarter of schools in the districts are closed due to Covid-19 cases. Schools can usually reopen within 14 days after campuses have been thoroughly cleaned and disinfected, public health contact tracing is completed and the county public health department has given its approval.

Several other counties moved to more restrictive tiers Tuesday; no counties advanced. Amador, Contra Costa, El Dorado, Placer and Santa Cruz counties moved from the orange, or “moderate” tier back to the red tier. Modoc, Siskiyou and Trinity counties moved from the yellow, or “minimal” tier to orange.