Orange, Ventura, Santa Barbara counties all join L.A. in ‘medium’ COVID risk category as cases rise

As coronavirus case numbers rise throughout California, Orange, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties all moved to the medium COVID-19 danger stage this week.

The rating is a part of the CDC’s three-level system that’s meant to assist native jurisdictions resolve what prevention steps to take based mostly on danger ranges decided by the variety of hospital beds getting used, hospital admissions, and the overall variety of new COVID-19 instances in an space. 

Below the CDC’s system, counties with a weekly case fee over 200 new instances per 100,000 folks within the final seven days are routinely thought-about to be at both a medium or excessive neighborhood danger stage.

Final week, Los Angeles County was the one Southern California county to maneuver from a “low” to “medium” COVID-19 neighborhood stage.

Now, all of the counties alongside the Southern California coast are below the identical designation.

Neighboring Riverside and San Bernardino counties, nevertheless, are nonetheless thought-about to have “low” COVID-19 neighborhood ranges.

With the shift to “medium,” no new COVID-19 restrictions had been introduced for most people.

Nevertheless, a return to extra stringent masking guidelines may change into a actuality if counties enter the CDC’s “excessive” danger class.

L.A. County Well being Director Barbara Ferrer has stated that L.A. County would shift to once more requiring everybody to masks up indoors if the county strikes to the upper danger class.

At the moment, no county in California is within the “excessive” class.

Nevertheless, 33 of California’s 58 counties have moved to the CDC’s “medium” COVID-19 neighborhood stage — masking the vast majority of the state’s inhabitants.

On the east coast, quite a few counties have already been designated as having excessive virus ranges.

A county would transfer into the “excessive” class if it information 10 or extra new COVID-19 hospital admissions weekly for each 100,000 residents or if no less than 10% of its staffed hospital beds had been occupied by COVID-19 sufferers in a single week, in accordance with CDC.

Very like officers in the remainder of the nation, well being authorities in Orange County are responding to the rising COVID-19 instances by advising residents to get examined, put on well-fitted masks and get vaccinated.

“As we collect to honor those that died whereas serving our nation this Memorial Day weekend and as we start planning for summer time occasions, we have to assist help each other and scale back the danger of transmission, particularly to those that could also be at greater danger or unknowingly be liable to getting contaminated,” says Dr. Regina Chinsio-Kwong, County Well being Officer. “Masking indoors or at crowded gatherings as properly getting absolutely vaccinated and boosted stay the easiest way to guard ourselves and forestall the unfold of COVID-19.”