On Wednesday, Feb. 24, Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Steve Rosansky announced via a video sent to Chamber members and other businesses and community members that Orange County coronavirus numbers were drastically improving, and that the county was rapidly moving toward lessening the severe restrictions of the Purple Tier.
“The latest coronavirus numbers have given hope that we will soon be moving from the purple to the red tier in Gov. Newsom’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy,” said Rosansky in the video.
The regional stay-at-home order imposed on Dec. 6 and extended on Dec. 30 due to the rising coronavirus case load in California hospital intensive care units was lifted on Jan. 25, allowing Orange County to move into the purple tier.
Now, said Rosansky, “two of the three indicators are solidly in the red zone now. The positivity rate has dropped to 5.4 percent, a number not seen in the last three months. The health equity positivity rate has also dropped to mid-November levels and currently sits at 7 percent.”
Rosansky noted that the third indicator, the adjusted case rate per 100,000, has dropped to 11.9 per 100,000. Orange County needs to get down to 7 per 100,000 before the county will be in the red tier for all three indicators.
“Since the case rate is a lagged index, it is likely that when the next set of figures is released next Tuesday (March 2), all three coronavirus indicators will be in the red tier,” stated Rosansky. “Unfortunately, we will need to be in the red tier for a minimum of two weeks before the less restrictive red tier requirements can be implemented.”
Rosansky said that restaurants should begin planning now for the reopening of indoor dining so that “they can hit the ground running. Retail establishments will open up to 50 percent capacity, and fitness centers and gyms will once again be open for partial indoor use.”
Rosansky concluded by saying that “the improving coronavirus numbers, coupled with significant infusions of stimulus funding through both state and federal relief programs, and a more robust vaccination program, should bode well for a return to profitability for many suffering businesses by springtime.”
To find out what restrictions are placed on businesses in the red tier, consult the guidance documents on the state’s COVId-19 website, https://covid19.ca.gov.
For more information on the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce, and to watch the video, visit www.NewportBeach.com.
