Two San Joaquin Valley counties are entering their lowest tiers of coronavirus reopening since the development of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s tiered reopening scheme.
Fresno and Kings counties are now listed in the Orange Tier, officials with the California Department of Public Health announced on Tuesday morning.
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The move puts the two counties in the same company as Kern and Tulare counties, who entered Orange Tier in the past two weeks.
The Orange Tier of the color-coded reopening system indicates moderate spread of coronavirus, or between 2 and 5.9 cases per 100,000 residents and a daily case rate of between 2 and 4.9 percent
It also reflects the state’s health equity metric – a formula designed to target coronavirus case and vaccination rates in poorer communities.
For residents of Fresno and Kings counties, the shift to Orange Tier means the following for various business sectors and community services:
- Retail – no longer has capacity restrictions
- Museums, zoos and aquariums – indoor capacity increases from 25% to 50%
- Places of worship – indoor capacity increases from 25% to 50%
- Movie theaters – indoor capacity increases from 25% or 100 people whichever is fewer to 50% or 200 people whichever is fewer
- Hotels and lodging – can open indoor pools
- Gyms and fitness centers – indoor capacity increases from 10% to 25% and indoor pools can open
- Restaurants – indoor capacity increases from 25% capacity or 100 people whichever is fewer to 50% or 200 people whichever is fewer
- Professional Sporting Events/Live Performances – Capacity increases to 33 percent, including suites. Capacity with negative test results or proof of full vaccination boosts capacity to 67%. Suite capacity maxes out at 25%.
