SANTA BARBARA, California – Santa Barbara County is on track to return next Wednesday to the less restricted Red Tier of state reopening.
The door to further reopening opened Friday when California reached 2 million vaccinations in designated zip codes in the state where communities were hardest hit by COVID-19.
The milestone updated the state’s reopening guidelines and raised the threshold for reaching the Red Tier to weekly COVID-19 cases per 100,000.
Santa Barbara County will officially meet the benchmark when updated numbers appear this coming Tuesday. The switch to the Red Tier will then take effect on Wednesday.
In the Red Tier, restaurants can again offer indoor eateries with a capacity of 25 percent or less than 100 people, whichever is less.
Indoor movie theaters can also reopen by 25 percent, while indoor gyms can reopen by 10 percent.
Indoor museums and aquariums can also reopen with limited capacity. Middle and high schools will be cleared for personal learning in the Red Tier.
Businesses are already preparing for a limited return inside. Harry’s Plaza Cafe in Santa Barbara will once again be able to fill 25 percent of its large indoor space once the country officially moves into the Red Tier.
“I mean, there are easily 50-60 people who can accommodate us in a warm environment versus outside in the cold,” said Kevin Hebert, general manager.
Santa Barbara County only moved into the Red Tier in the fall before the terrifying COVID boom forced the restrictions to return.
There is hope that businesses will not have to endure a shutdown again this time.
“As vaccination becomes more common to the public, I think it’s the key for us to keep going and not go back,” Hebert said.
Van Do-Reynoso, director of public health in Santa Barbara province, shares the optimism and said on Friday that she ‘strongly’ believes the province can avoid falling back into the most restricted press level ever if people continue to follow health guidelines. .
‘I think we learned a lot [last fall] in terms of how fast we can increase in our case due to lack of compliance, ”Do-Reynoso said. “We need to adhere to the precautions until we reach the high level of vaccination in our community.”