Currently, Orange County remains at Orange Tier status regarding COVID-19 according to the Orange County COVID-19 Dashboard. This means that we are on tier three of a 1 to 4 scale, 1 being widespread and 4 being minimal. 

Tier 3 requires that there is a 2 – 5.9 average of new cases daily out of every ten thousand people in 7 days, as well as a 2- 4.9% positivity rate average also in 7 days.

As of April 11th, there is an average of 3 new cases every ten thousand and a positivity rate of 1.65%. These are large improvements from the beginning of the year which, as of January 18th, was at an average of 78.8 cases and a 19.5% positivity rate. 

To advance to the next tier, a county must stay in the previous tier a minimum of three weeks and meet the requirements of the next tier for another two weeks. Orange County, as of April 13th, has been in Orange for three consecutive weeks.

Being in the Orange tier means that amusement parks can reopen at 25% capacity, outdoor and live performances can be held at a maximum of 33% capacity, retail, grocery stores, and libraries can operate at full capacity, and offices in non-essential industries can reopen, though is encouraged that workers continue to work from home.

Orange County has made much progress in a few months, and if we can continue to wear masks and wash our hands, we can move onto the next tier. With more things opening and broadening their capacities, we can hopefully move towards a sense of normalcy once again.