Santa Barbara County is closing in on reentering the state’s COVID-19 Red Tier for the first time in months — allowing more business operations, like indoor dining, to resume.
The county’s adjusted case rate, or the number of new cases per day for every 100,000 residents, is currently at 9.7. Santa Barbara must achieve a new case rate of between 4-7 in order to drop down from the more restrictive Purple Tier.
The California Department of Public Health is currently attempting to administer 2 million vaccines to those living in the state’s most vulnerable neighborhoods. Once the agency reaches its goal, officials recently announced, the standard for entering the Red Tier will be widened to 4-10 new cases per 100,000 residents ― which Santa Barbara County currently meets.