California is loosening its tier guidelines, which is allowing more counties to start opening up.
These changes come as the state considers how equitably vaccine distribution is going when deciding how much counties should be allowed to reopen. To put it simply, as California administers more vaccines to zip codes hardest hit by the pandemic, it will become a bit easier to for counties to move into less restrictive tiers.
VACCINE TRACKER: How California is doing, when you can get a coronavirus vaccine
The four tiers are yellow, orange, red and purple. Yellow indicates minimal COVID-19 spread and allows for nearly all businesses to reopen indoor operations (as long as physical distancing and face-covering requirements are in place). Purple means there is widespread COVID-19 transmission in the county. In the early stages of the four-tier system, pretty much all non-essential business had to close in the purple tier. These days, much more is allowed at limited capacity. (See below for details.)
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See the map below to find out where your county stands and keep reading to learn what can and can't open in each color-coded category.
App users: For a better experience, click here to view the full map in a new window
Now that 4 million vaccine doses have been administered to those living in the "Vaccine Equity Quartile", a set of less strict metrics is being used to determine a county's tier status:
- Widespread (purple): Counties with more than 10 daily new cases per 100,000 residents
- Substantial (red): 6 to 10 daily new cases per 100,000 residents
- Moderate (orange): 2 to 5.9 daily new cases per 100,000
- Minimal (yellow): Less than 2 daily new cases per 100,000
Each color code has a different set of rules regarding what businesses are and aren't allowed to reopen, whether they can open indoors or outdoors, and at what capacity they can operate. Here's how it breaks down by category:
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PURPLE
- Hair salons: open indoors with modifications
- Retail: open indoors at 25% capacity
- Malls: open indoors at 25% capacity and food courts closed
- Nail salons: open indoors with modifications
- Electrolysis: open indoors with modifications
- Personal care services (body waxing, etc.): open indoor with modifications
- Tattooing and piercing: open indoors with modifications
- Museums, zoos and aquariums: outdoor only
- Places of worship: open indoors at 25% capacity
- Movie theaters: outdoor only
- Hotels: open with modifications
- Gyms: outdoor only
- Restaurants: outdoor only
- Wineries, breweries and distilleries: outdoor only until 8 p.m.
- Bars: closed
- Family entertainment centers: outdoor only, like mini golf, batting cages and go-kart racing
- Cardrooms: outdoor only
- Non-essential offices: remote work only
- Professional sports: outdoor only with 100 or fewer spectators
- Schools: must stay closed
- Theme parks: Must stay closed
- Live performances: outdoor only with 100 or fewer spectators
RED
- Hair salons: open indoors with modifications
- Retail: open indoors at 50% capacity
- Malls: open indoors at 50% capacity and limited food courts
- Nail salons: open indoors with modifications
- Electrolysis: open indoors with modifications
- Personal care services (body waxing, etc.): open indoor with modifications
- Tattooing and piercing: open indoors with modifications
- Museums, zoos and aquariums: open indoors at 25% capacity
- Places of worship: open indoors at 25% capacity or 100 people, whichever is fewer
- Movie theaters: open indoors at 25% capacity or 100 people, whichever is fewer
- Hotels: open with modifications, plus fitness centers can open at 10% capacity
- Gyms: open indoors at 10% capacity
- Restaurants: open indoors at 25% capacity or 100 people, whichever is fewer
- Wineries, breweries and distilleries: outdoor only until 8 p.m.
- Bars: closed
- Family entertainment centers: outdoor only, like mini golf, batting cages and go-kart racing
- Cardrooms: outdoor only
- Non-essential offices: remote work only
- Professional sports: outdoor only at 20% capacity
- Schools: can reopen for in-person instruction after five days out of the purple tier
- Theme parks: can reopen at 15% capacity
- Live performances: outdoor only at 20% capacity (allowed indoors at limited capacity starting April 15)
ORANGE
- Hair salons: open indoors with modifications
- Retail: open indoors with modifications
- Malls: open indoors with limited food court capacity
- Nail salons: open indoors with modifications
- Electrolysis: open indoors with modifications
- Personal care services (body waxing, etc.): open indoor with modifications
- Tattooing and piercing: open indoors with modifications
- Museums, zoos and aquariums: open indoors at 50% capacity
- Places of worship: open indoors at 50% capacity
- Movie theaters: open indoors at 50% capacity or 200 people, whichever is fewer
- Hotels: open with modifications, plus their indoor pools can open and fitness centers can open at 25% capacity
- Gyms: open indoors at 25% capacity and can open indoor pools
- Restaurants: open indoors at 50% capacity or 200 people, whichever is fewer
- Wineries, breweries and distilleries: open indoors at 25% capacity or 100 people, whichever is fewer
- Bars: outdoor only
- Family entertainment centers: open indoors at 25% capacity for naturally distanced activities like bowling and rock climbing walls
- Cardrooms: open indoors at 25% capacity
- Non-essential offices: encourage telework but can reopen in-person work spaces
- Professional sports: outdoor stadiums can have audiences up to 33% capacity
- Schools: can reopen for in-person instruction after five days out of the purple tier
- Theme parks: can reopen at 25% capacity
- Live performances: outdoor only at 33% capacity (allowed indoors at limited capacity starting April 15)
YELLOW
- Hair salons: open indoors with modifications
- Retail: open indoors with modifications
- Malls: open indoors with limited food court capacity
- Nail salons: open indoors with modifications
- Electrolysis: open indoors with modifications
- Personal care services (body waxing, etc.): open indoor with modifications
- Tattooing and piercing: open indoors with modifications
- Museums, zoos and aquariums: open indoors with modifications
- Places of worship: open indoors at 50% capacity
- Movie theaters: open indoors at 50% capacity
- Hotels: open with modifications, plus their indoor pools can open, spas can open, and fitness centers can open at 50% capacity
- Gyms: open indoors at 50% capacity, plus saunas, spas, steam rooms and indoor pools can open
- Restaurants: open indoors at 50% capacity
- Wineries, breweries and distilleries: open indoors at 50% capacity or 200 people, whichever is fewer
- Bars: open indoors at 25% capacity
- Family entertainment centers: open indoors at 50% capacity including arcades, ice skating, roller skating, and indoor playgrounds
- Cardrooms: open indoors at 50% capacity
- Non-essential offices: encourage telework but can reopen in-person work spaces
- Professional sports: outdoor stadiums can have audiences up to 67% capacity
- Schools: can reopen for in-person instruction after five days out of the purple tier
- Theme parks: can reopen at 35% capacity
- Live performances: outdoor only at 67% capacity (allowed indoors at limited capacity starting April 15)
This story will be updated as counties are upgraded or downgraded. Check back for updates.
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To look up more specific business reopenings, from yoga studios to dry cleaners, see California's COVID-19 website.
See the tracker below to find out how COVID-19 cases are trending in your county.
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