How are residents feeling about Monterey County moving to the Orange Tier?
MARINA, Calif. (KION) Monterey County will officially move to the Orange Tier on Wednesday but how are residents on the central coast feeling about this decision?
Monterey County will officially move the Orange Tier on Wednesday. This decision comes in the midst of the state of California announcing that June 15th may be the date to reopen all of California.
With this tier change, businesses like restaurants can increase their indoor seating to fifty percent capacity or 200 people, whichever is fewer.
Retail stores can operate at 100% capacity with some modifications. Museums, zoos, and aquariums like the Monterey Bay Aquarium can operate at 50% capacity compared to just 25%.
Still, some visitors like Marissa Jones from Washington express that the public continues to stay vigilant against the virus.
"Even if they change the tier to orange, that people are still cautious and still wear their masks. If people don't believe or haven't been affected by it, just think of those who have or their grandmothers are nurses at Salinas Valley so it does affect us," says Jones.
Some residents feel that this pandemic and tier restriction has caused significant damage to people's livelihoods and feel that this change should have occurred a long time ago.
"It's long overdue for us and hopefully it can help fill some gaps for a lot of folks that have been having a tough time with work, employment, and just getting the bills paid," says Bill Lipe, a resident of Salinas.
Others feel that the public should instill some trust into our local officials.
"At the end of the day, we don't always understand the entire picture of it cause we live our own personal lives but that's what their job is and so I'm glad to see that they're listening to the data and the feedback and doing what's right and moving in the right direction," says David Brandt, resident of Monterey.
Monterey County reminds the public to continue wearing their mask, keeping six feet of distance, and getting the vaccine when it's your turn.
