The Blueprint for a Safer Economy, a statewide, stringent and slow plan for living with COVID-19 was unveiled by Governor Gavin Newsom on August 28.
The blueprint includes:
- At least 21 days to expand activities beyond the initial tier to ensure California better limits the spread of the virus;
- Mandatory metrics — case rates and test positivity — to measure how widespread COVID-19 is in each county and guide what activities are allowed;
- A uniform state framework, with four categories instead of 58 different sets of rules;
- A more nuanced way of allowing activity. Instead of open vs. closed, sectors can be partially opened and progressively add to their operations as disease transmission decreases; and
- A new process for tightening back up again quickly when conditions worsen.
Each county will fall into one of four colored tiers — purple (widespread), red (substantial), orange (moderate) and yellow (minimal) — based on how prevalent COVID-19 is in each county and the extent of community spread. That color will indicate how sectors can operate.
Counties must remain in every tier but purple for a minimum of 21 days before being eligible to move into the next tier. Every Tuesday, California will update each county’s data for the previous week and make corresponding changes to tiers. In order to move into a less restrictive tier, a county must meet that tier’s criteria for two straight weeks.
To learn more, click here. To read the detailed announcement, click here.
