SLO County will not progress into Red Tier of reopening plan

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. - San Luis Obispo County will not progress into the Red Tier of the state's Blueprint for a Safer Economy as previously expected.

The county will remain in the state's Purple Tier of the reopening plan, which is the most strict of tiers, indicating widespread coronavirus cases.

The decision to keep SLO County in the Purple Tier is linked to a rise in positivity rate in "vulnerable" populations.

San Luis Obispo County was eligible to move into the next tier of reopening due to two metrics that exceeded expectations. As of last week, test positivity rate and health equity metric were both measuring in the Orange or "moderate" tier.

If those numbers continued to hold for another week, San Luis Obispo County would've been allowed to progress into the Red Tier of the state's reopening plan.

But Tuesday's health equity metric rose above the Orange Tier, delaying any chance of San Luis Obispo County moving into the next reopening phase for at least two weeks.

The San Luis Obispo County Public Health Department is asking residents to work together to lower case rates and help move the county into the next phase of reopening.

"We continue to work hard to improve test positivity across SLO County and among more vulnerable communities here, but we need your help to slow the spread of this disease even further so we can move to the Red Tier and enjoy even more activities here in our county," the public health department said on Twitter.

San Luis Obispo County also reported 311 new coronavirus cases and five new deaths on Tuesday. It was the first day the public health department updated case totals since last Thursday.

For a complete breakdown of COVID-19 cases in San Luis Obispo County, click here.