Napa County On Track To Move To Orange Tier

NAPA COUNTY, CA — Napa County may soon move to the state of California's less restrictive orange tier based on coronavirus test positivity, adjusted coronavirus case rate and health equity.

The county is in the red tier on California's COVID-19 Blueprint for a Safer Economy, but is on track to join a handful of other Bay Area counties in the orange tier by Oct. 21, county officials said in a news release.

The change in status would mean more capacity would be allowed for indoor dining, religious services, bars, movie theaters and other industry with modifications and in accordance with state guidelines.

At a minimum, counties must remain in their current colored tier for at least three weeks before moving forward. Napa County was one of the first counties in the San Francisco Bay Area in the red tier and has remained in the red tier since Aug. 31 when the state released its new blueprint.

"I want to thank our residents and visitors for their diligence in helping fight this pandemic," said Napa County Health Officer Dr. Karen Relucio. "I am keenly aware of the sacrifices so many have made to help get us to this next tier and I am optimistic that we can continue on our path forward if we remain vigilant through the upcoming holiday season."

To move forward, a county must meet the next tier's criteria for two consecutive weeks. To date, Napa County has met the orange tier status for one week with a test positivity rate of 1.6 percent per 100,000 population, adjusted case rate of 3 percent per 100,000 population, and a health equity test positivity rate of 2.1 percent per 100,000 population.

Elsewhere in the Bay Area, Santa Clara and Alameda counties both moved to the orange tier Oct. 3. As of Thursday, Santa Clara had a 1.7 positivity rate, a 3.8 health equity metric, 4.6 percent new cases per day and 3.7 percent adjusted case rate for tier assignment; while Alameda had a 3.4 positivity rate, 2.9 health equity metric, 1.5 percent new cases per day, and 3.2 percent adjusted case rate for tier assignment.

The total number of coronavirus cases in Napa County since the outbreak began reached 1,832 Thursday. The county has had 14 coronavirus-related deaths.