On Sunday, Nov. 15, Orange County Health Agency reported 639 new COVID-19 cases with two deaths. “What can we do?” Sigal said. Orange County had been in the slightly less-restrictive "red" tier of the four-level matrix, which allowed more businesses to operate at increased capacities, and allowed restaurants to offer indoor dining. By Zach Cavanagh. Within the state’s shift back into the Purple Tier for COVID-19 monitoring, businesses like movie theaters and places of worship will need to cease all indoor operations. Orange County had moved into the less-restrictive red tier on Sept. 8, which allowed the Capistrano Unified School District to open its … “There are a lot of bars and restaurants that are squeaking back and some [restaurants] still haven’t made it. Orange County had been in the slightly less-restrictive “red” tier of the four-level matrix but was anticipated to fall back to “purple” due to the rising daily case numbers. But now, with the move backwards to the most restrictive purple tier, Orange County schools that had already reopened while in the red tier or with a waiver can remain open, according to a … To find out what the switch means for different business sectors, click here. Purple is the most restrictive, while yellow the least restrictive. “It was like ‘Groundhog Day,’” Nye said, referring to the 1993 movie that stars Bill Murray, about a man who lives the same day over and over again. COVID-19: Orange County Moves Back Into Purple Tier SACRAMENTO – As COVID-19 cases sharply increase across the country and California, Governor Gavin Newsom and state public health officials announced immediate actions today to slow the spread of the virus. Not this time around, Pizza Press founder and CEO Dara Malaki said. Gov. Every Tuesday, state health officials assign each county a tier under the state’s four-tier color-coded system that monitors coronavirus cases. Our new Spectrum News app is the most convenient way to get the stories that matter to you. The re-classification from red to purple tier will officially take effect Tuesday, according to the governor's office. Orange County is currently ranked in the most restrictive tier of the California Department of Public Health’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy Tier system.In the past few weeks Orange County had been assigned a less restrictive Red-tier, however, due to a surge in coronavirus cases throughout California, the county has moved back into the purple-tier. SANTA ANA (CBSLA) — Orange County will likely fall back into the purple tier of the state’s reopening map, county CEO Frank Kim said Friday. Only one county is in the orange, or third tier, while five counties are in tier 2, or the red tier. “You woke up every day and you saw the same show, with the same report and same dread and nothing got better ever. With Orange County on the cusp of moving backward from red to the state’s most restrictive purple tier under California’s coronavirus monitoring system, which means prohibiting indoor dining again, restaurateurs across the county are bracing for the possibility of a very long hard winter. Gyms were closed in the purple tier and allowed to reopen at 10% indoor capacity in the red tier. They’ve spent a lot of money to make it safe and have limited indoor operations. About 1,208 new cases were reported today in Orange County, which currently has an adjusted case rate of 22.2 average cases per 100,000 residents and an 8.8% positive testing rate. “What can we do?” Serato said. “This is the worst time to do it,” Malaki said of closing indoor operations. Look at the color of your county here. That’s why this is so devastating.”. Serato, the owner of the Anaheim White House, has spent tens of thousands of dollars upgrading his restaurant’s indoor operations to make it safer for his customers. This is strange times.”. As a reminder, Orange County needs to get to the yellow “minimal” tier for Disneyland to reopen its gates. Following yesterday’s statewide COVID-19 metric update, 51 total California counties are in the purple tier, up from 41 counties the week prior. Purple (Tier 1) indicates that the virus is “widespread” in the county. Under the yellow tier, restaurants can operate indoors at 50 per cent of their capacity, as can movie theatres, bars, and places of worship. It’s going to change the landscape of America.”. We’ll do what we can to support all of our tenants but we can only do so much. Businesses and residents must comply with the Purple Tier … Download it here. The first time around, when the pandemic began and forced the closure of individual businesses and restaurants, at least there was the government’s U.S. Paycheck Protection Program to off-set some of the losses. Red (Tier 2) indicates “substantial” incidence, while orange (Tier 3) indicates “moderate” and yellow (Tier 4) indicates “minimal” incidence of the virus in the county. Orange County's run in the COVID-19 red tier ended Monday with a lapse back into the most-restrictive purple tier of California's four-tier reopening roadmap. “I don’t think restaurants are responsible for the spread of the coronavirus,” Serato said. There are now 51 counties in the purple tier after Tuesday’s updates. The county remains in a tier level for a minimum of three weeks and must meet the health metrics in the least restrictive tier for two consecutive weeks before it can advance to the next tier. The county remains in a tier level for a minimum of three weeks and must meet the health metrics in the least restrictive tier for two consecutive weeks before it can advance to the next tier. Purple, or Tier … Nye, the owner of the Laguna Beach restaurants, has been working with his landlord to increase his restaurants’ outdoor offering. If a county’s case rate and positivity rate fall into different tiers, the county remains in the stricter tier. Unlike the purple tier, which only allowed outdoor dining for restaurants, the red tier gave restaurants the ability to reopen indoor operations with 25% capacity. Now, we’ll be operating with both arms behind our backs and no aid.”. “This is awful for us to try and survive day-by-day,” said Bruno Serato, the owner and chef at The Anaheim White House in Anaheim. It felt like the end of the world,” said Nye, who oversees The Deck on Laguna Beach, and Driftwood Kitchen and Oyster Bar restaurants in Laguna Beach. “I can spend $15,000 for a tent and heaters for outside dining. He’s ordered a tent and heaters to prepare for the colder months. Following yesterday’s statewide COVID-19 metric update, 51 total California counties are in the purple tier, up from 41 counties the week prior. The state is pulling an emergency brake in the Blueprint for a Safer Economy resulting in 94.1… Orange County is on the cusp of moving back to the state's restrictive tier if coronavirus cases continue to spike, Restaurateurs are concerned about having to close indoor operations again if the county moves to purple tier, Orange County's coronavirus cases have been rising, If Orange County moves backward, it will take at least 21 days before it can move back to a less restrictive tier, 2020 Holiday Shopping Will Start Earlier, Include Masks as Stocking Stuffers, Theme Park Closures Impact SoCal Businesses, Disney Announces Furloughs as Theme Parks Remain Shuttered, Despite Coronavirus Pandemic and Hotel Industry Struggles, Newport Beach Marriott Sold for $200 Million, California Consumer Do Not Sell My Personal Information. We might see a lot of closures. “Let us run our own business. Go here for more updates on how OC companies are responding to coronavirus. Effective immediately under order of Governor Newsom and the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), the County of Orange was moved into the Purple Tier, the state’s most restrictive tier. “We’re going to still be in the red tier tomorrow,” Orange County CEO Frank Kim told City News Service on Tuesday. The county … This week, California hit the 1 million COVID-19 case mark, and state health officials are warning that the number could further rise during the holiday season and the weather turning colder. On Wednesday, the Orange County Restaurant Association notified its more than 800 members to start planning and preparing in case the county regresses next week. Tuolumne County was moved to the purple tier and Calaveras County to the moderate orange tier. Unless something changes, we risk the purple tier next Tuesday.”. As the weather cools and Thanksgiving and winter holidays approach, the number of coronavirus cases are increasing across the state, again. The purple tier is the most restrictive in the state, forcing many businesses and other entities to close in an attempt to curtail the spread. OCBJ Publisher Richard Reisman and OC Business Leaders, CA Unveils Stricter COVID-19 Monitoring System, OC Heads for Next COVID-19 Reopening Tier. If the number of coronavirus cases continues to rise in Orange County, Orange County could join them next week. Serato said the pandemic had hit restaurants and the hospitality industry as a whole the hardest. On Nov. 24 the state had 41 counties in purple, 11 counties in red, four in orange, two in yellow. Each color-coded level – purple, red, orange, and yellow – lays out guidelines and allows for the reopening or expanding of certain non-essential businesses. All of Southern California counties are now in the "purple tier" of Governor Gavin Newsom's COVID reopening framework. ORANGE COUNTY, Calif. â€” For John Nye, an operating partner at Sentinel Restaurant Group in Laguna Beach, the coronavirus pandemic and its negative effect on the restaurant industry has felt like the movie “Groundhog Day.”. “We don’t know what’s going to happen but we need to plan now. It’s awful.”. “It’s heartbreaking. Purple counties are considered those with widespread Covid-19 cases. “We’re pushing them to do more outdoor dining and take out. Only one county is in the orange, or third tier, while five counties are in tier 2, or the red tier. The holidays are usually the busiest times. SANTA ANA (CNS) - Orange County was upgraded Tuesday from the state's purple to red tier, allowing many businesses and churches to reopen at reduced capacity. The county has had 80,551 cumulative cases to date. From October to December, they are hosting dinner parties. Earlier this week, several counties that had enjoyed limited business operations regressed to a more restrictive tier. Some restaurants are on the brink of bankruptcy. “We’re in a good place now with some of the original PPP money but if we have to close [indoor dining] and it stays like this until January, then everybody is going to need a new [federal aid] package,” Nye said. As Orange County’s daily case rate and testing positivity continued their sharp rise, the county remained in California’s purple “widespread” tier—the highest risk level of the state’s four-tiered, color-coded coronavirus monitoring system—in the state’s latest update on Tuesday, Nov. 24. No counties are currently in the yellow tier, which signals minimal transmission. This meant specific business sectors that were closed or operating with some modifications could reopen or expand their operations. SANTA ANA (CNS) – Orange County was upgraded Tuesday from the state’s purple to red tier, allowing many businesses and churches to reopen at reduced capacity. “It was the worst. As Orange County returns to ‘purple’ tier, Heroes Hall at O.C. The state had previously been providing a tier and metrics update each Tuesday; now tiers can be reassigned at any time. This is the most restrictive level in the State’s effort to control the spread of COVID-19. Effective immediately under order of Governor Newsom and the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), the County of Orange was moved into the Purple Tier, the state's most restrictive tier.Impacted industries and activities in Orange County will have 24 hours in which to comply with this action and make necessary modifications. There are no answers. But the threat of losing what little business they have with indoor operations has many retail property owners and restaurant owners worried. The State of California moved Orange County into the Purple Tier from the less restrictive Red Tier because the County’s “health equity metric” is 5.5%. With indoor dining in the county prohibited in the first five months of the pandemic, Nye set up a grocery store in the middle of his restaurants and placed a heavy emphasis on take-out orders, just to survive financially. When California rolled out the new tiered monitoring system in August, Orange County was among 38 counties, representing 87% of California’s population, placed in the most stringent first tier. Orange County joins 40 more California counties in the purple tier, which altogether contain 94% of the state’s population including all of Southern California. Can my school open under the Blueprint for a Safer Economy? This is the time for many of them to financially recoup some of their losses. Orange County -- … As Orange County’s daily case rate and testing positivity continued their sharp rise, the county remained in California’s purple “widespread” tier—the highest risk level of the state’s four-tiered, color-coded coronavirus monitoring system—in the … Then we got better and we got indoor dining with 25% [capacity in September] and this weight got lifted and we were heading into the right direction but now, here we go again.”. No counties are currently in the yellow tier, which signals minimal transmission. What counties are in the purple tier? The move back to purple tier marked a sudden shift in Orange County’s pandemic performance as the most recent testing data reflects a post-Halloween wave of infections. We know what we’re doing.”, Chef Bruno Serato stands in front of the Anaheim White House restaurant in Anaheim. As of Monday, 28 counties — including Orange County — are being moved back to the most restrictive tier of California's matrix governing business operations. “We’re going to be forced again to furlough or lay off employees right before Thanksgiving and right before Christmas with no federal aid in sight. Red counties reflect areas with a substantial number of cases, while orange is the moderate tier, and yellow areas are ones with a minimal number of cases. “That’s all we can do,” Waitt said. I have three Regal Cinemas. Waitt is pushing her members and other restaurant owners to start ordering outdoor heaters and tents and preparing a strong takeout menu. Purple represents counties with widespread Covid-19, red reflects areas with a substantial number of cases, orange is the moderate tier, and yellow reflects areas with a minimal number of cases. New tiered system emphasizes slower reopening approach. “We messaged them yesterday,” said Pamela Waitt, the president of the Orange County Restaurant Association. Orange County first moved from the purple tier to red in September. San Diego, Sacramento, and Stanislaus County fell back from the red tier to purple. Places of worship and indoor shopping malls were also allowed to increase capacity from 25% to 50% with the move. They can’t make money and you’re going to shut them down again. Of the total new cases 20 were reported in Irvine. I can make $15,000 profit but it’s not easy.”. He has installed UV lighting and special filters in the HVAC units and created separate private rooms to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Now, there are 41 counties in the purple tier, representing 94% of the state’s population. “The data for next Tuesday, though, shows we’re right on the edge. 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