IMPERIAL COUNTY, CA- On Friday, August 28, 2020, the State of California unveiled the new Blueprint for a Safer Economy for reducing COVID-19. Along with the new blueprint, the State introduced revised criteria for loosening and tightening restriction on activities, as well as a tiered, color-coded system, which will guide movement from tier to tier. The changes outlined in the state’s blueprint will go in to effect Monday, August 31, 2020. The Blueprint for a Safer Economy replaces the County Data Monitoring List for determining what business can and cannot open. An updated local Health Officer order will be issued to reflect the recent state changes.

Every county in California is assigned to a tier based on its rate of new cases and testing positivity. Imperial County is currently in tier one (1). At a minimum, counties must remain in a tier for at least 3 weeks before moving forward. Data will be reviewed weekly and tiers updated on Tuesdays. To move forward, a county must meet the next tier’s criteria for two consecutive weeks. If a county’s metrics worsen for two consecutive weeks, it will be assigned a more restrictive tier.

Activities and businesses that have a lower risk of spreading COVID-19 are allowed to open sooner. Higher-risk activities or businesses aren’t allowed until later tiers. An activity or business’s tier depends on whether it can:

• Accommodate mask wearing at all times (for example, eating and drinking requires removing masks.
• Allow physical distance between individuals from different households
• Limit the number of people per square foot
• Limit time that an individual is at the business or activity
• Limit time of exposure
• Limit mixing of people from different households
• Limit amount of physical interactions of visitors/patrons
• Increase airflow (such as operating outdoors or opening windows and doors)
• Limit activities that are known to increase virus spread (like singing, shouting and heavy breathing).

For more information about where each California county falls and what activities will be allowable in each county, visit covid19.ca.gov. For additional information, please visit the Imperial County Public Health Department website at http: www.icphd.org