ALL THAT hand-washing, mask-wearing and social distancing is paying off for Orange County as it moves to the “red tier,” allowing for a loosening of some restrictions (Shutterstock).

Orange County, happily, is going “red.”

Today (Tuesday) the approval was given for the OC to move to the less restrictive red tier of “substantial” number of coronavirus infections, away from “widespread” (purple).

The California Department of Public Health made the announcement this afternoon as steadily improving statistics here qualified the county for the opening and partial re-opening of many businesses and other entities public and private.

Going “red” now means that:

• indoor dining, places of worship, movie theaters, museums, zoos, and aquariums may reopen at 25 percent capacity;
• shopping centers and retail stores may operate at 50 percent capacity;
• gyms and fitness centers may operate at 10 percent capacity.

The latest statistics on Orange County showed that the number of new COVID-19 positive cases per 100,000 is at 4.9 percent, adjusted to 5.2 for tier assignment. Additionally, the OC’s positivity rate was down to 4.2 percent.

Next step “up” for the county would be to “moderate.” The metrics to achieve that would require that the number of daily new cases per 100,000 drop to a range from 1 to 3.9, and test positivity between 2 and 4.9 percent.

However, a county must remain in a tier for at least three weeks before moving forward, according to the CDPH.