Ventura County Could Move to Red Tier October 6th; Playgrounds May Now Open in California

On Monday, the State of California announced that the County of Ventura has met the State COVID-19 metrics for one week. If Ventura County meets the metrics for an additional week, the state will allow the county to move into the Red Tier of the State’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy.

As of September 29, the Ventura County has met the threshold for the case rate for the Red Tier. Any county within this tier must indicate a daily case rate of between 4-7 cases and a positivity rate of between 5-8%. Ventura County currently has a daily case rate of 7.0. The County’s testing volume of 283 exceeds the state average of 248.9. This has allowed for an adjustment by the state of the case rate from 8 to 7. Exceeding the requirements for testing has helped the County advance.

The County anticipates that establishment in the Red Tier would become effective starting Tuesday, October 6, 2020.

Once in the Red Tier, personal care services, restaurants, places of worship, movie theaters, gyms and fitness centers, along with museums, zoos and aquariums will be able to open for indoor operations with modifications.

Stores with indoor operations that are open in the Purple Tier can increase indoor capacity to 50% in the Red Tier. Restaurants can open indoors at 25% capacity. Places of worship, higher education, and zoos and museums can open indoor operations at 25% capacity or 100 people, whichever is less. Fitness centers and gyms will be able to offer indoor operations at 10% capacity.

School openings for in-person instruction are only able to be considered once a county has been in the Red Tier for 14 consecutive days. At this time, only schools that have applied for school waivers and have been approved are allowed to be open for in-person instruction. If the county continues to meet the threshold for case rate and other metrics, K-12 schools across the County could reopen as early as Wednesday, October 21, 2020.

Additionally, as of September 28, the state has allowed for outdoor playgrounds operated by a city, state, county, or federal government to open. The County of Ventura is in line with the guidance that has been provided by the state. More details at THIS LINK.

Visitors to outdoor community playgrounds must comply with the following requirements:

1. Face masks over the mouth and nose are required for everyone 2 years of age or older with caregiver supervision at all times to ensure face mask use.

2. Do not use the playground when different households are unable to maintain a physical distance of 6 feet or when the capacity limit has been reached.

3. Caregivers must monitor to keep adults and children from different households at least 6 feet apart.

4. Consider coming on different times or days to avoid wait times and potential crowded times.

5. No eating or drinking in playground, to ensure face masks are worn at all times.

6. Wash or sanitize hands before and after using the playground.

7. Elderly and persons with underlying medical conditions should avoid playground when others are present.

8. Limit visit to 30 min per day when others are present