Gov. Gavin Newsom lifted the statewide regional stay-at-home order on Monday, reopening some business operations that were allowed under the color-coded tiered COVID-19 framework.
After nearly seven weeks under the stay-at-home order, Santa Barbara County reverted back to the most-restrictive purple tier.
While the county’s COVID-19 transmission is still considered “widespread,” some business sectors can resume operations that were prohibited under the order.
“We are pleased the stay-at-home order has been lifted and that California as a whole is moving in the right direction with decreasing hospitalizations and case counts,” said Santa Barbara County Public Health officer Henning Ansorg. “Now more businesses will be able to open in Santa Barbara. This is so important for the health of our community.”
A health officer order outlining the new restrictions and allowances for the county will be issued and take effect Tuesday morning at 8 a.m.
One of the biggest changes to come from the stay-at-home orders being lifted is the allowance of outdoor dining at restaurants.
The food-and-beverage industry took one of the biggest hits when Newsom issued the stay-at-home order on Dec. 6, allowing only take-out or delivery services.
Under the purple tier, restaurants may resume outdoor dining operations, with customers socially distanced.
Bars, breweries, and distilleries are allowed to resume outdoor operations as long as food is sold with any purchase of alcohol.
Grocery stores, retail, and shopping centers can operate at a maximum 25% capacity, but common areas and food courts are to remain closed.
Day camps, farmers markets, drive-in theaters, and outdoor playground and recreation may all open with modifications under the purple tier.
Personal care services, hair salons and barbers, esthetic and skincare services, electrology services, nail salons, tattoo parlors, piercing shops and massage services can also open with modifications.
And the county will now allow leisure travel to resume at local hotels.
“This is a long-awaited day for Santa Barbara County’s hard-hit hospitality industry,” said Kathy Janega-Dykes, president and CEO of Visit Santa Barbara. “Our community finally can start to get back to work and do what they do best with COVID-19 protocols in place.”
However, indoor operations of fitness centers, places of worship, movie theaters, wineries and tasting rooms, family entertainment centers, aquariums, card rooms, museums, and zoos are still prohibited under the purple tier.
Campgrounds are closed unless used for COVID-19 mitigation and containment measures or providing housing solutions, according to the state’s framework.
However, state beaches, forests, and parks may open with modifications.
The limited stay-at-home order that restricted non-essential activities between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. expired with the regional stay-at-home order.
Private gatherings are now allowed outdoors only with masks and social distancing and are limited to three households.
Schools that have already re-opened are not required to close, but schools that have not yet resumed in-person instruction must remain closed until the county has been in the substantial red tier for five days, according to the framework.
Waiver applications are available for K-6 schools under the purple tier, but Santa Barbara County Public Health officials have said that waiver applications will not be considered while cases are so high.
Advancing from the widespread purple tier to the substantial red tier would allow the county to re-open certain sectors even further.
To qualify for the red tier, the county must have a seven-day average between 4 and 7 new cases per day per 100,000 people and between a 5% and 8% testing-positivity rate.
The health equity metric must fall between 5.3% and 8%.
The last time the county qualified for the red tier was Nov. 2, 2020.
As of Monday, the county had an adjusted case rate of 64.6 new cases per day per 100,000 residents, and a 16% testing-positivity rate.
— Noozhawk staff writer Jade Martinez-Pogue can be reached at jmartinez-pogue@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
