Santa Barbara reopens city park playgrounds

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — Santa Barbara County has moved from the purple "widespread" tier to the red "substantial" tier in the state's COVID-19 reopening plan.

The move comes as the threat of contracting the coronavirus has decreased over the last month. On Wednesday, county public health officials said 123 people are still infectious in the county. That number ticked up to 128 infectious people heading into the weekend. 11 are still infectious in the City of Santa Barbara.

Moving from the purple tier to the red tier means more businesses and community amenities can open with limitations. One of those community amenities is the 22 Santa Barbara city park playgrounds. 

Parks and Recreation director Jill Zachary said the playgrounds are open with restrictions.

She said the city added new signs outlining the restrictions. Among those include requiring everyone over two years old to wear a mask, limiting the number of people using one playground at a time and reducing the amount of time people can spend at the playground.

For more information about the rules and restrictions, visit the Parks and Recreation Department’s website.