Santa Barbara County potentially moves to red reopening tier as soon as Tuesday, business owners prepare

SANTA MARIA, Calif. – Santa Barbara County businesses are keeping a close eye on coronavirus numbers as some companies could reopen indoor operations as early as Tuesday.

In Santa Maria, Efren’s Mexican Restaurant has been busy with take out orders.

But soon, this restaurant may see people dining indoors.

Santa Barbara County met the state’s metrics to move forward to the next phase of reopening, called the red tier.

If the numbers fall within those guidelines through today, it will have met the two week requirement, which means several sectors can reopen limited indoor services, including dining.

Restaurants that can reopen must keep its occupancy under 25 percent along with enforcing physical distancing and mask requirements.

Efren's owner alvarez ramos says if the county gives him the green light to reopen, he would be allowing indoor dining immediately.

“By tomorrow we’ll be able to open up, we will have the seating available and sectioned out to people,” said Alvarez Ramos. “The tables are going to be closed and open, we will be providing more sanitation stations.”

Other sectors that will be allowed to have limited indoor operations include movie theaters, churches, and gyms.

On Tueaday, the state will announce if Santa barbara county can join San Luis Obispo county in the "red" tier of the reopening plan.

The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors will also have a special meeting to discuss how it will adapt rules to what the state allows.

We have reached out to the County Public Health to find out if they met the state metrics this week, but have not heard a response yet.