Santa Cruz County health officer Dr. Gail Newel today shared hopeful news during the COVID-19 update: She said that Santa Cruz County should enter the orange tier in three weeks, a spring infection surge no longer appears imminent, and it’s possible that California could reach herd immunity by late spring.
According to Dr Newel, Santa Cruz County is seeing “continued good news in terms of case rates, hospitalizations, death rates, [and] ICU availability.” Dr Newel added that she expects the county to progress quickly from the orange to the yellow tier, and even into the green tier (which doesn’t currently exist but Gov. Gavin Newsom has said is in the works).
The previously predicted surge in late March or early April also appears less likely, according to county health officials, who base their predictions upon a model that includes the impact of variants and vaccines.
