News Update

Covid surge pushes number of ‘purple’ counties from 13 to 41 in one week

In response to a surge in Covid-19 cases in California, Gov. Gavin Newsom pulled an “emergency brake” on indoor activity in the state, pushing the number of counties in the purple or “widespread” reopening tier to 41 of 58.

Last week, 13 counties were in the purple tier, which is the most restrictive status. It means that schools that are not yet open for in-person instruction cannot do so unless they have a waiver from the county public health office. Now, 94% of California residents live in counties in the purple tier.

The 41 counties in the purple tier include 863 districts, 1,237 charters and 5,821,648 students, which is 95.88% of the state’s total student body.

The counties that downgraded to purple between Nov. 10 and Nov. 16 include: Alameda, Butte, Contra Costa, El Dorado, Fresno, Glenn, Kern, Kings, Mendocino, Merced, Napa, Nevada, Orange, Placer, San Benito, San Joaquin, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Siskiyou, Solano, Sutter, Trinity, Tuolumne, Ventura, Yolo and Yuba.

The 13 counties previously rated purple include: Imperial, Los Angeles, Madera, Monterey, Riverside, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Diego, Shasta, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Tehama and Tulare

Though schools in purple counties can’t begin offering in-person instruction, they can continue to do so if they already were offering in-person instruction. However, under the state’s guidance they must increase Covid-19 testing for staff.

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 Monday. Colusa, Del Norte, Marin, Modoc, Plumas Humboldt, Mono, San Francisco and San Mateo moved to the red, or “substantial” tier. Calaveras and Sierra counties moved to the orange or “moderate” tier.