The state is moving Santa Clara County back into the most-restrictive purple tier on Tuesday, citing concerns over a sudden rise in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.
The purple tier indicates that the risk of community transmission is high. With the exception of nail salons, estheticians and other personal care services, all indoor activities are closed including dining, museums, gyms, movie theaters and places of worship.
Shopping malls and all retail establishments can continue operations but must reduce capacity to 25 percent and outdoor dining, wineries, breweries, religious services and other activities are allowed.
“We appear to be heading into the worst phase of the pandemic to date,” said Santa Clara County Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody. “Rapidly rising cases and hospitalizations should serve as a wake-up call for our entire community. We ask every resident to do everything they can to slow the spread of transmission in our community, protect our most vulnerable residents and save lives.”
Santa Clara County is one of 28 counties to move back to the purple tier on Tuesday as part of California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s plan to “pull the emergency brake” on reopening.
Newsom stated that the moves are because daily case counts have doubled in the last 10 days — the fastest increase the state has seen since the start of the pandemic.
Santa Clara County has also seen significant rises with 388 new cases, 33 new hospitalizations and 1 new death, according to the county’s dashboard.
Last week, the county’s seven-day rolling average was 231 and in the beginning of November it was 139. On Tuesday, Nov. 10, the county also saw the highest daily count of new cases at 413.
All counties in the Bay Area are in the purple tier with the exception of Marin and San Francisco counties, which have moved back to the second-most restrictive red tier.
Santa Clara County officials urge residents to limit interactions with those outside of their household, gather with those inside of their household outside only and refrain from travel, especially during the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday.
To learn more about which counties have moved and the subsequent closures visit: https://covid19.ca.gov/safer-economy/.