Orange County could be set for wider reopening soon as COVID-19 numbers improve

Aileen Delaportilla, left, a business major at Golden West College, receives a tip from customer Ron Mancillas of Fresno on Monday.(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

by: Los Angeles Times

Posted: Sep 22, 2020 / 04:17 PM PDT

Updated: Sep 22, 2020 / 04:17 PM PDT

This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

With coronavirus numbers continuing to improve, Orange County officials said this week that a wider reopening of businesses could be around the corner.

The county is in Tier 2 — the second-strictest in California’s four-tier system that assesses COVID-19 transmission. However, officials said this week they think Orange County could soon enter the less-restrictive Tier 3, based on how numbers are trending.

“There has been a steady but consistent decline in testing positivity rate,” County Executive Officer Frank Kim said Monday. “Things are looking good.”

To move into the next tier, Orange County would need to have 1 to 3.9 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people per day and a test positivity rate of 2% to 4.9% for two consecutive weeks.

Read the full story on LATimes.com.