MONTEREY COUNTY — The state of California has implemented new reopening guidelines called “equity metrics” in an effort to bring down Covid-19 infection rates in disadvantaged communities and communities of color.
The third metric adds another criteria for counties to reopen but has not been a hurdle for Monterey County, as it moves toward moving from Tier 1 to Tier 2 with fewer restrictions.
The new metric uses ratings from the California Health Places Index, which can be found at healthyplacesindex.org and rates census tracts. The 25 census tracts within Monterey County with the lowest health place index are being considered for the new third metric, which now requires a positivity rate in those areas less than 8% to move to Tier 2.
The census tracts designated as the lowest-ranked quartile are: Pajaro, Marina, parts of Seaside, parts of Salinas, as well as the communities of Gonzales, Soledad, Greenfield, King City and San Lucas.
Monterey County Health Officer Dr. Edward Moreno said during a press briefing on Oct. 7 that those areas average out to a Covid-19 positivity rate of 7.3%, which is less than the 8% required to move to Tier 2.
In the existing two criteria, however, Monterey County continues to face hurdles.
“We have an adjusted test rate of 10 that keeps us in Tier 1,” Moreno said of one metric. “The existing county positivity rate is 5.4%. It actually falls between 5% and 8%, which is Tier 2.”
Although the county meets two of the three criteria for moving to Tier 2, the one it has not yet met is what holds it within Tier 1, with full restrictions on citizens and businesses. The county would either need to meet all three criteria, or ramp up its rates within one of the criteria.
“I want to point out the county positivity rate is close to the criteria for Tier 3, which has even fewer restrictions on the business sectors,” Moreno said. “We’d have to be at least 4.9% to meet that threshold, and the 7.3% would have to be close to 4.9%. If we were to actually meet that criteria, even though our case rate remains in the purple tier, the state would consider allowing the county to move into Tier 2.”
For now, based on the current metrics, Moreno said the state would hold Monterey County at Tier 1.
