Public health officials told the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors Tuesday that the county has made enough progress against COVID-19 that it will likely emerge from the state's most restrictive purple tier within two or three weeks.
Supervisor John Gioia said the county could move into the less restrictive red tier even earlier if the state relaxes the current threshold required for that category, currently seven new reported coronavirus cases daily per 100,000 people for two consecutive weeks. Gioia said state officials told him that is under consideration.
"They would announce that later this week," Gioia said. "They didn't say what [the threshold] would be."
Contra Costa Health Services Officer Chris Farnitano said if the state does change the threshold for reopening, it may do so based on reaching certain vaccination numbers.
"We're still waiting for details," he said.
Aside from the state possibly changing the requirements for moving to less restrictive tiers, the county could also graduate to red by fulfilling the state's health equity metric, even if the overall case rate doesn't qualify it for a move up, Farnitano said.
Meanwhile, Anna Roth, the county's health director, told the board that Contra Costa was "on the other side of the winter wave" and that it was now focused on vaccination.
She said 323,000 vaccine doses have been administered in the county since March 1, though Board Chairwoman Diane Burgis pointed out that vaccine numbers in East Contra Costa still lag compared to other parts of the county, and she called for more vaccination sites in the area. The county will soon open more mass vaccine sites, including one at Diablo Valley College's San Ramon campus by March 15.
Roth said 86% of county residents 75 and over have received at least one vaccine dose, along with 60% of those 65 to 74.
Farnitano said the county so far hasn't had to deal with the more serious new variants of coronavirus but has purchased new gene-sequencing equipment for detection. The county has seen 85 cases of the so-called California variant, which is considered less potentially problematic than those from the United Kingdom, South Africa or Brazil.
Roth said now is not the time to relax mask wearing and social distancing.
"And when it's your turn, please sign up, please get your vaccine," she said.
- Contra Costa Vaccine Appointment Request Form
- California My Turn website: Check eligibility and schedule an appointment
- Where Can I Get a COVID-19 Vaccine in the Bay Area (KQED)
—Bay City News and KQED News