Imperial County is on track to move into the Red Tier of the State of California Blueprint for a Safer California.

According to the Imperial County Public Health Department , the County has successfully met the metrics to move up from the Purple Level to the Red Level for one week. Counties must meet those metrics for two weeks in order to advance. If Imperial County can meet the criteria for an additional week the movement to Red could come as soon as March 9, 2021. Imperial County Board of Supervisors Chairman Mike Kelley said , " This is a big step on the road to recovery for our County. Although we are not officially moving to the Red , less restrictive tier yet , this is a great sign that our community is taking all actions possible to improve our conditions and to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Let's continue our efforts so that we can stay on the path towards recovery." 

Moving to the Red Tier will allow for limited indoor dining in restaurants  , several other types of businesses such as fitness centers , movie theaters and museums to reopen with capacity limits. Retailers and malls will be able to open at 50% capacity. The social distancing and face covering restrictions will continue to apply. 

To advance to the Red Tier Imperial County must maintain the following metrics for an additional week.

Case Rate per 100,000 population       4 t0 7

Testing Positivity Rate                       5% to 8%

Health Equity Quartile Rate               5.3% - 8%