Berkeley Case Count; See What's Open As County Enters Red Tier

Berkeley CA

09 March, 2021

6:46 PM

Description

ALAMEDA COUNTY, CA — Indoor dining, gyms, museums, nail salons and more may reopen in Berkeley Wednesday with safety restrictions in place, after Alameda County moved into the less-strict red tier Tuesday. COVID-19 statistics have greatly improved since the early January winter surge, the county said in a news release. "Alameda County's case rate is on the decline and vaccinations of vulnerable residents and our frontline workers are progressing but the COVID-19 pandemic is not over," said Dr. Nicholas Moss, Alameda County health officer, in the news release. "As more activities and businesses open indoors and more people from different households mix, the risk of becoming infected increases. The majority of Alameda County residents have not been vaccinated, so we must continue to take precautions to keep each other safe." This marks the first time in four months that any of these activities have been allowed to operate indoors in Alameda County. The county moved into the most-strict purple tier, which indicates widespread risk, in November. The red tier is one step above the purple tier and indicates substantial risk. There are four tiers in the state's color-coded COVID-19 risk assessment system. The state allows the following businesses and services to open indoors in red tier, with safety modifications in place: shopping centers (50 percent capacity; closed common areas and reduced-capacity food courts)indoor dining (25 percent capacity)fitness centers (10 percent capacity)places of worship (25 percent capacity or 100 people — whichever is fewer)nail salonsmassage facilitiesmuseums (25 percent capacity)zoos (25 percent capacity)aquariums (25 percent capacity)movie theaters (25 percent capacity or 100 people — whichever is fewer) Alameda County was able to progress into this lower tier after meeting the red tier standards for 14 consecutive days. Red tier counties must meet the following standards: 4 to 7 daily new cases per 100,000 people (seven-day average, with a seven-day lag)5-8% testing positivity rate in the entire county (seven-day average)5.3-8% testing positivity rate in communities most likely to be hit hardest (health equity metric) Here's how Alameda County compares to those metrics: 4.8 daily new cases per 100,000 people: meets red tier standard1.8% testing positivity rate in the entire county: meets yellow tier standard2.6% testing positivity rate in neighborhoods most likely to be hit hardest (health equity metric): meets orange tier standard Now Alameda County eyes a move into the less-strict orange tier, which indicates moderate risk. Orange tier counties must meet the following standards: 1 to 3.9 daily new cases per 100,000 people (seven-day average, with a seven-day lag)2 to 4.9% testing positivity rate in the entire county (seven-day average)2.2 to 5.2% testing positivity rate in communities most likely to be hit hardest (health equity metric) More than 81,000 COVID-19 cases have been reported in Alameda County as of Tuesday afternoon, including nearly 1,300 deaths that have been linked to the coronavirus. Here's the case count by community: Alameda: 2,233Albany: 313Berkeley: 3,320Castro Valley: 2,357Dublin: 1,525Eden Area: 5,521Emeryville: 400Fairview: 599Fremont: 7,284Hayward: 12,792Livermore: 4,052Newark: 2,607Oakland: 25,300Piedmont: 167Pleasanton: 2,082San Leandro: 5,025Sunol: 34Union City: 3,758Unincorporated: 158