Local officials expect San Benito County to move into the state’s “Red Tier” of Covid-19 risk by next week, which could open up more indoor business and allow more public gatherings.
San Benito County Interim Public Health Officer Dr. David Ghilarducci said at the March 9 board of supervisors meeting that as of 2am, the current conditions of Covid-19 spread in the county are characteristic of the state’s Red Tier.
Under state guidelines, a county or region can move from the Purple (widespread) Tier to the Red (substantial) Tier if they report two key conditions for a minimum of 14 days: between 4 and 7 daily new cases per 100,000 residents, and a Covid-19 case positivity rate between 5 and 8 percent.
As of March 9, San Benito County dropped below the daily case threshold for the Purple Tier for the first time in months, with 6.9 new daily cases per 100,000 residents, according to the state’s Covid-19 website. Also as of March 9, the county’s seven-day average positivity rate is 4 percent.
“If we keep this up for another week, we could go back to the Red Tier,” Ghilarducci said. “It’s another sign of steady improvement.”
He added that there are currently 31 active cases of Covid-19 in San Benito County.
The slowly increasing availability of vaccines—including 700 doses administered at Bolado Park at a March 7 clinic—is helping, but county officials remain frustrated with what they see as an inequitable state distribution plan. Ghilarducci said as of March 9, the county has received and administered about 11,000 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine. That means, at most, only about 16 percent of the county has been inoculated, Ghilarducci added. That’s lower than the statewide vaccination rate of 25 percent.
After the county reaches the Red Tier, local officials could reopen numerous types of business and gatherings that are prohibited under the Purple Tier. These include indoor dining, gyms and fitness centers and increased indoor retail capacities.
