Health officials to share latest COVID update at Supervisors meeting

Riverside County's top health officials are expected to share the latest coronavirus data during Tuesday's Board of Supervisors meeting.

WATCH THE MEETING LIVE BELOW (STARTS AT 9:30AM)

Tuesdays are the day the state updates county metrics. Governor Gavin Newsom said on Monday that 7 counties are expected to move from the "purple" tier to the less restrictive "red" tier.

During last Tuesday's update, Riverside County did not meet the criteria needed to move into the red tier, however, the county did have a metric go into the red tier zone.

Tier data (as of 2/23/21)

• New cases per day per 100K - 16.2 (Last Week 29.2)
• Adjusted Case Rate - 16.6 (Last Wee 28.8)
• Positivity Rate - 7.6% (Last week 11%)
• Health Equity Quartile Positivity Rate - 8.3% (Last Week 11.8%)

According to the state's framework, in order to move forward into a new tier a county must:

1. Be in the current tier for a minimum of three weeks.
2. Meet the criteria for movement to the next less restrictive for the prior two consecutive weeks in order to progress to the next tier; which can be achieved by either or combination of criteria described below:
   1. Meeting the Adjusted Case Rate, Test Positivity, and Health Equity metric criteria for a less restrictive tier.
   2. Meeting the criteria for movement to the next less restrictive tier through health equity accelerated progression.

Check out the state's tier map (continues to update each week)

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Although it seems unlikely that Riverside County would move into the red tier, this week's metric update could still have an impact.

The county is right on the cusp of the being allowed to bring back youth/prep sports.

The county's case rate needs to be below 14 and as of last week, it was at 16.6. Some of the local high school athletic directors held a meeting last week revealing plans to hold a shortened football season should the county's case rate drop below 14.

The Desert Empire League has planned for games to start on March 19.

More Details: Football after all? Shortened season looks likely for local high school programs

Despite the "purple" tier status, local schools have also begun moving ahead with their plans to bring students back into classrooms.

Desert Sands Unified already had its plans approved by the county to bring students back into the classroom by March 15.

Palm Springs Unified approved return date of April 12 for Pre-K through 2nd grade and April 19 for 3rd through 5th grades. The district is awaiting county approval.

Coachella Valley Unified is working to finalize its plans, but have discussed a possible return date of April 15 for Kindergarten through 6th grade.

Stay up-to-date with the latest local coronavirus news, including reopenings and closing, new case data, live news conferences, and other updates at KESQ.com/Coronavirus or download the News Channel 3 app on the Apple Store and Google Play.

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