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

Kanye West Makes It To the Sample Ballot as a Vice President Candidate in California

There are a total of 482,754 registered voters in Ventura County as of yesterday, up 6%, from 455,000 voters last December. Current breakdown of county voters is 141,008 Republican, 206,090 Democrat, 104,668 Nonpartisan and 30,988 Other.

If you want to confirm that you are registered in Ventura County, visit recorder.countyofventura.org/elections/elections/voter-lookups/am-i-a-registered-voter/#VoterEligibilitySearch and type your exact name and birth date (I’ve found that if you type a shortened name or nickname other than your registered name, it won’t work).

Sample ballots are now available online when you confirm your registration. As you can see, Kanye West made it to the California ballot as Vice President candidate for the American Independent party.

It is not clear if he consented to this but I suspect he did not. Kanye did make it to the Oklahoma, Colorado, Louisiana and a handful of other states’ ballots as an independent candidate.

You can register to vote at https://registertovote.ca.gov/ until October 19th (15 days before the election).

Review of California Blueprint for a Safer Economy for Moving to Lower Risk Tiers

As mentioned in a previous post, the state of California has implemented a four-tier system for counties to move towards loosening restrictions on activities. The four tiers are shown in the image below.

Source: covid19.ca.gov/safer-economy

Every county in California is assigned to a tier based on its test positivity and adjusted case rate. At a minimum, counties must remain in a tier for at least 3 weeks before moving forward. Data is reviewed weekly and tiers are updated on Tuesdays. To move forward, a county must meet the next tier’s criteria for two consecutive weeks. If a county’s metrics worsen for two consecutive weeks, it will be assigned a more restrictive tier.

Put a different way, a county will stay in each tier for 5 weeks at a minimum to move into a less restrictive tier.

As of Tuesday, September 22, 2020:

• The state overall is at 6.4 new cases per day per 100K (over a 7-day average) and a 3.6% positivity rate (percentage of positive tests over a 7-day average).

• Ventura County is at 7.4 new cases (unadjusted) per day per 100K and a 3.8% positivity rate. The positivity rate falls into the “moderate” (orange) category but the cases per day rate is in the “widespread” (purple) category.

Ventura County has a population of 856,287. Our current case rate of 7.4 new cases per 100K over a 7-day average equates to about 63 new cases on average per day, or over 440 cases in a week.

To get to “normal” again, there needs to be less than 1 new case per day per 100,000 people. That means we must average, on a rolling 7-day average, less than 8.5 new cases per day, or 60 new cases per week, for at least 5 weeks.

Looking at the historical statistics going back to the beginning of the pandemic, that puts us back at levels of new cases seen back in April 2020.

Updates on where Ventura County stands is at www.venturacountyrecovers.org in detail and at covid19.ca.gov/safer-economy at a summary level.

Classes at Moorpark, Oxnard and Ventura Colleges to Remain Remote in Spring 2021

Ventura County Community College District announces that due to the ongoing threat of COVID-19, a majority of its classes at Moorpark, Oxnard and Ventura colleges will continue to be remote for the spring 2021 semester, which begins Jan. 11. Strict protocols will still be in place for students and faculty who must be on campus for courses that cannot be remote.

In making the decision, VCCCD leadership carefully explored the issue and prioritized the health and safety of its approximately 31,000 students and 1,700 employees during the pandemic. The District will continue to monitor pandemic conditions and state and local Department of Public Health guidelines and restrictions and make adjustments to work status and access to the colleges as appropriate.

“We are alerting students, employees and the community of our actions now to enable everyone to plan for the future,” said Chancellor Greg Gillespie. “Our faculty at all the colleges has worked hard to adapt the curriculum for online learning so that students have an excellent learning experience.”

Continuing student registration appointment times for the spring 2021 semester will be listed on students’ MyVCCCD email portal beginning Sept. 28, 2020. New student registration begins Nov. 16. Students may register for classes at more than one VCCCD college.

“We appreciate the ongoing support of the community as we continue to take steps to protect the safety and health of our students and employees while providing educational instruction and student support,” said Board Chair Bernardo M. Perez. “We are committed to helping our students fulfill their educational and career goals.”

About Ventura County Community College District

The Ventura County Community College District is a member of the 116-campus California Community College system and serves approximately 31,000 students annually. The District's three colleges--Moorpark, Oxnard and Ventura--offer programs in general education for degrees and certificates, transfer to four-year colleges and universities, career technical education and provide opportunities to engage in co-curricular campus activities. For more information, visit vcccd.edu.

Champagne French Bakery at The Promenade at Westlake Closed in the Summer of 2020

Champagne French Bakery at The Promenade at Westlake officially closed its doors this summer. Originally it closed temporarily, but subsequently the signs were removed.

Porta Via Now Open at The Commons at Calabasas

Porta Via is now open at The Commons at Calabasas, offering contemporary California cuisine serving seasonal organic dishes. Open for lunch and dinner with pastas, sandwiches, salads and more.

House specialties include Grilled Ora King Salmon, Parmigiano Crusted Halibut, Branzino, Pan Roasted Striped Bass, Brick-Pressed Roasted Chicken, Chicken Paillard, Orange Ginger Stir Fry, Prime French Cut Pork Chop, Grass Fed Filet Mignon, Grilled Skirt Steak, Bistro Burger and the Impossible Burger.

Learn more at portaviarestaurants.com.

2020 Halloween Guidance Issued by Ventura County Public Health

UPDATE 9/16: There's been an update to VC Public Health's "Interim Halloween Guidance" available at vcrecovers.com in the News and Updates section. Door to door trick or treating and "trunk or treating" are now "not recommended" rather than "not permitted."

Details at vcportal.ventura.org/CEO/VCNC/2020-09-16_VCPH_InterimHalloweenGuidance.pdf

Ventura County Public Health has issued Halloween Guidance to reduce the spread of COVID-19 that includes the following:

Not Permitted Under Current Health Orders:

1. Halloween gatherings or events with non-household members, both indoors and outdoors.

2. Carnivals, festivals, live entertainment and haunted house attractions.

3. Door to door trick or treating.*

4. "Trunk or treating"*

* Due to difficulty in maintaining social distancing, riskiness of sharing food/candy, etc.

Permitted and Recommended:

1. Online parties/contests

2. Pumpkin picking at pumpkin patches

3. Car parades

4. Halloween movie nights at drive-in theaters

5. Halloween themed meals at outdoor eateries

6. Dressing up homes/yards with Halloween decor

More details at THIS LINK.

Patron Mexican Bar & Grill to Open Thousand Oaks Location (NOW OPEN)

UPDATE: After long last, Patron Westlake Village opened in May 2022.

Patron Mexican Bar & Grill looks to be opening a new location at 3709 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd, which is the address of Al Mulino Italian Restaurant. I confirmed with Patron that they do plan to open this new location by sometime later this year.

Al Mulino originally opened in July 2015. Patron has locations in Newbury Park and Camarillo.