Health officials in Shasta County say the county will remain in the most restrictive tier under the state’s COVID-19 reopening plan.
There was hope last week the county could move from the purple, widespread, tier to the red, substantial, tier because of declining infection rates. Robin Schurig, the county’s public health branch director, said those hopes were dashed this week.
“Well, between last week and this week, our case rate did decline from 25 to 23 daily cases per 100,000 population,” Schurig said. “But both our test positivity and our equity measure increased to where they’re both in the red. So, with them in the red and our case rate in the purple, we stay in the purple.”
Schurig said if test positivity rates reverse course and decline, there’s a chance the county could move down a tier in the near future. But she also offered some warnings.
She said officials are waiting to see if Super Bowl gatherings result in a spike in cases. The more transmissible U.K. variant of the coronavirus is also a concern.
Health officials say it’s expected to become the dominant strain in California around March.