Santa Cruz County health officials expect tier move in coming weeks, no longer anticipate surge

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, Calif. (KION) Santa Cruz County health officials provided an update on the state of the COVID-19 pandemic locally, and they anticipate some change in the coming weeks.

Earlier this week, the county was moved to the less restrictive red tier of the Blueprint for a Safer Economy, allowing for indoor dining at restaurants, movie theater openings and more. Dr. Gail Newell believes the county will continue to move through the tier system. Currently, she says the county meets some orange and yellow metrics, and she expects that after the county has been in the red tier for three weeks, it will be moved to the even less restrictive orange tier.

Newell believes the change could happen at the end of the month, and the county will be moved to the yellow tier, the least restrictive, shortly after that.

Last month, Health Services Agency Director Mimi Hall said that based on projections, the county expected to see a surge in COVID-19 cases starting in mid-March and peaking in April, but Newell now says that based on national models, they no longer expect a spring surge. She said the models show that there might be a plateau at the end of the month, but she is hoping the county will reach some level of herd immunity by late spring.

Even though health officials are sharing hope for the coming months, they are also sharing concerns. Newsom expressed concerns about opening the economy and schools so quickly around spring break when people are more likely to travel.

At the state level, Newell said she has received word that there may be a list of occupational sectors added to vaccine eligibility. The list is not formal, but the expanded list could include all transit workers, custodians, disaster service workers and utility workers who respond to emergency services.