After a lengthy and at times tense public meeting, the Riverside County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday in favor of a revised COVID-19 reopening plan, a modified version of a proposal that would have put the county on a faster track to reopening than the state recommends.
The modified plan is still a risky move for Riverside: The county is teetering on the brink of regressing to the most restrictive purple tier of the state’s four-part color-coded reopening blueprint, indicating a widespread risk of local infection.
The county remained in Tier 2, the red level, when changes were announced Tuesday. With a positivity rate — the rate of positive results among all COVID-19 tests performed — of 5% and an adjusted case rate of 7.6 positive infections per 100,000 people, the risk of spreading the illness is substantial, according to state metrics.
The decision passed in a 4-1 vote, with Supervisors Karen Spiegel, Kevin Jeffries, Manuel Perez and Chuck Washington in favor of the move. Supervisor Jeff Hewitt was the lone vote against the plan — because he wants even more local control over reopening guidelines than those put forth by the state.
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