More California counties have slid back into the state’s most restrictive COVID-19 tier just before the Thanksgiving holiday. The announcement was made by California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly earlier today (Tuesday).
As of Tuesday, 45 of the state’s 58 counties are in the state’s purple, most restrictive tier — up from 41 last week. Eight counties are in the red tier, five are orange and no counties are in the yellow, least restrictive tier.
Here’s a breakdown of counties that changed tiers:
- Counties moving back to the purple (widespread) tier: Colusa, Del Norte, Humboldt, and Lassen counties
- County moving back to the red (substantial) tier: Calaveras County
- Counties moving back to the orange (moderate) tier: Alpine and Mariposa counties
Before announcing the tier changes, Ghaly underscored how California’s COVID-19 surge is affecting hospitals across the state. Over the last 14 days, COVID-19 hospitalizations increased 81.3% and COVID-19 ICU hospitalizations went up 57.1%.
