SACRAMENTO, Calif. — During his press briefing, Governor Gavin Newsom announced that 40 counties within California are moving backward as a result of a recent surge in COVID-19 cases throughout the state. Kern County is among those moving back.
On Monday, Kern County was listed as being in the purple tier on the state's "Blueprint for a Safer Economy." Kern County Public Health confirmed the governor's announcement.
Public Health announced another 301 cases of COVID-19 on Monday morning. The county's case rate has been high over the past week and local officials are expected to announce Tuesday morning that Kern County will move from the 'red' tier back into the 'purple' tier.
That would mean that businesses would have to move their services entirely outside. Restaurants and churches are required to shut down their indoor options while movie theaters and museums will be required to close.
With Kern County now considered in the purple tier by the state, according to the state's guidelines, the following regulations will be put in-place.
The governor said California's COVID-19 cases have doubled in the last ten days, the largest the state has seen since the pandemic broke out in March.
Newsom said that he is pulling the "emergency brake" on the state's efforts to reopen its economy as coronavirus cases surge more dramatically than they did during a summer spike. Monday's announcement not only imposes more restrictions but also changes how counties move within the tier system.
The governor said that counties can now move tiers following just one week and they can now jump multiple tiers at once, rather than moving only to the next tier level.
Newsom said when a county moves tiers, industries should make changes immediately, rather than after a subsequent three-day period.
