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Kern’s COVID-19 metrics exceed red tier; may revert back to purple tier as early as next week

  • Kern Sol News

    • Jesus Sandoval, left, and his son Roberto get a little sun and discuss the issues of the day in downtown Bakersfield Tuesday. Recent rain has kept Jesus from his job planting carrots. “We can’t work right now because the tractors sink into the wet soil and the seeds need to be planted in good soil. Wet weather keeps the seeds on the surface and they won’t grow. His son Roberto says that he had recently been working construction and they were sending his crew to Los Angeles but he was laid off as the Coronavirus pandemic hit. People in LA are really taking the situation seriously. Very few people are out and when they are out they take precautions. “I don’t see that as much in Bakersfield,” he says. As people in Bakersfield are told to observe isolation and distancing precautions because of the Coronavirus pandemic effecting the United States and the world, the streets in Bakersfield are much less crowded during peak hours. Some businesses can remain open if they provide essential needs of the population. While many have closed doors. Photos by Henry A. Barrios for Kern Sol News

    The state announced Tuesday Kern County continues in the Red Tier on the State’s COVID-19 framework for the fifth consecutive week.

    Kern County’s adjusted case rate currently exceeds the Red Tier metrics and actually falls within lowest tier, or the Purple Tier, or Tier 1, metrics; however, countywide testing positivity and health equity quartile testing positivity rate still meet the Red Tier metrics, according to Kern County Public Health. 

    If Kern’s metrics exceed the Red Tier metrics for a second consecutive week, the County would be required to revert back to the more restrictive Purple Tier as early as next week.

    Kern County’s testing rate has increased from l92.5 per 100,000 residents to 197.7 per 100,000 this week.

    “Unfortunately, testing rates have increased throughout the State which has caused the State’s testing median to increase to 272.41 per 100,000 residents,” Public Health said in a press release. 

    Based on the current Kern testing rate and the State’s median testing rate, Kern needs approximately 686 additional tests each day to avoid the artificial adjustment to our case rate. 

    Testing is also a valuable resource for controlling the spread of COVID-19 through identification and early isolation of those who are infected.  Kern Public Health encourages residents to visit its interactive testing map on its website to learn where COVID-19 testing is happening near them: https://phweb.kerncounty.com/Html5Viewer/index.html?viewer=COVID19TestingSites.

    “As our local case rate has recently increased and with the holiday season approaching, Public Health urges our community to take personal responsibility and practice healthy habits that include wearing a mask in public, washing your hands regularly, keeping at least six feet of physical distance when in public, and limiting mixing with people you don’t live with,” Public Health said in a news release.

    Kern County Public Health announced 143 new COVID-19 cases Tuesday, bringing the total to 35,610.

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