Six more counties at restrictive ‘purple’ tier, making 51 of California’s 58 counties
As Covid-19 cases continue to surge in California, six more counties have moved to the most restrictive level on the state’s reopening tier system, bringing the total number of “purple” counties to 51 out of 58.
San Francisco, Lake, Calaveras, Modoc, Plumas and San Mateo counties were the latest to drop to the “purple” tier Monday. The 51 counties include 957 public school districts and 1,295 charters serving a total of 6,025,850 students — 99.24 % of the state’s total K-12 enrollment.
Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Monday that six more counties had moved into the purple or “widespread” tier on the state’s Covid-19 reopening tier system. This brings the total number of purple counties from 45 to 51 out of 58.
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.
Only seven counties weren’t in purple tier as of Monday: Inyo, Mono, Mariposa, Alpine, Amador, and Marin counties were in the red or “substantial” tier and Sierra county was in the orange or “moderate” tier. No counties were in the yellow, “minimal” tier.