Despite the anticipation by county supervisors and Auburn City Mayor Dan Berlant, the move into the state mandated orange tier did not happen. Placer County remains in the RED category, which means restaurants and churches must continue at 25% occupancy and bars remain closed.
The county was initially placed in the red tier Sept. 8 after the seven-day COVID-19 testing rate positivity fell within the orange tier and the case rate fell within the red tier from the prior two-week period.
Mayor Berlant wrote in an email to the Auburn Journal, a We are working to reduce the spread of the virus in our community and it’s time the State reduce the restrictions on our businesses. We are meeting almost weekly with our business leaders to ensure the City is doing everything they can to help them survive the closures and more importantly to keep their employees and customers safe. We are currently meeting the requirements of the Orange Tier, so based on the State’s guidelines and in coordinating with our County officials, it’s my understanding that we will hear on October 6 about additional reopening.a
According to the weekly Placer County COVID-19 update, the seven-day daily case rate was 3.4 for the week ending Sept. 12 and 3.9 as of Sept. 24. The seven-day testing positivity rate was 3.2 percent for the week ending Sept. 12 and as of Sept. 24. Both metrics for the two-week period fell within the orange tier, which indicates moderate virus spread within the county.
According to the statea s assessment released Tuesday afternoon, the case rate was 4.5 for the period of Sept. 13-19, falling within the red tier. The seven-day testing positivity rate was 3.1 percent for Sept. 13-19, falling within the orange tier. As a result, the state assessed that Placer County would remain in the red tier, as per the final update as of 12:21 p.m. Tuesday.
To move to the orange tier, the case rate would need to drop between 1 and 3.9, and the testing positivity rate would need to fall between 2 and 4.9 percent for the two-week period before the assessment. It was believed the rate was 5%.