Blueprint for a Safer Economy

California’s blueprint for reopening has criteria for loosening and tightening restrictions on activities based on the level of spread of COVID-19.

On this page:

• Current tier assignments
• Beyond the Blueprint
• Reopening safely for all communities
• Questions and answers

Current tier assignments as of May 11, 2021

Every county in California is assigned to a tier based on its positivity rate, adjusted case rate, and health equity metric. Counties must remain in a tier for at least 3 weeks before moving to a less restrictive tier. Counties must meet the next tier’s criteria for two consecutive weeks to move to a less restrictive tier. If a county’s metrics worsen for two consecutive weeks, it will be assigned a more restrictive tier. Read more about tier assignment rules.

California has reached 4 million vaccination doses in the Vaccine Equity Benchmark. New Blueprint tier assignments were announced on April 6, 2021, with an effective date of April 7, 2021.

California’s county risk levels

All data and tier assignments are based on results from week ending May 1, 2021. See how tiers are assigned and changed, as well as county historical data (California Blueprint Data Chart), at CDPH’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy framework. Learn about regional ICU capacity at CDPH’s ICU Data.

Beyond the Blueprint

We have made significant progress against COVID-19. We’ve administered 20 million vaccines and case rates and hospitalizations have stabilized. As a result, California is preparing to move beyond the Blueprint for a Safer Economy.

On June 15, California will fully reopen its economy across the state if:

• There is enough vaccine supply for Californians 16 years and older to be vaccinated
• Hospitalizations rates remain stable and low, especially among fully vaccinated Californians

Common sense health measures, including wearing masks will continue. Testing and vaccination requirements will remain for some businesses and industries.

Learn more about moving beyond the Blueprint for a Safer Economy.

Reopening safely for all communities

COVID-19 has impacted some communities more than others. Adults 65 and older, people with pre-existing health conditions, Latinos, Blacks, Pacific Islanders, people who are low-income, and our essential worker community all face higher rates of infection and death.

Key indicators that determine reopening

Adjusted case rate Daily new cases (per 100k)	7-day average of daily COVID-19 cases per 100K with 7-day lag, adjusted for number of tests performed
Positivity rate	7-day average of all COVID-19 tests performed that are positive
Health equity metric (Positivity rate for HPI quartile 1)	7-day average of all COVID-19 tests performed that are positive for the lowest quartile, quartile 1, according to the Healthy Places Index
Vaccines administered	Number of vaccines doses administered statewide to people in the Health Places Index lowest quartile, quartile 1 (Vaccine Equity Metric)

Health equity metric

Counties must address COVID-19 in all communities to open further, including making sure the positivity rate in certain neighborhoods (health equity metric) does not significantly lag behind overall county positivity rates. These efforts need cross-sector and broad partnerships to succeed. The health equity metric is only used to decide whether a county can move to a less restrictive tier. Learn more about this focus on equity.

Vaccine equity metric

Forty percent (40%) of COVID-19 cases and deaths occur in California’s lowest Healthy Places Index (HPI) quartile. The Healthy Places Index, developed by the Public Health Alliance of Southern California, helps us visualize community conditions such as low income, education completeness, and health care access. To end the pandemic, we’re setting aside forty percent (40%) of vaccines to distribute to people in HPI quartile 1. This approach will help lower the rate of community infection, hospitalization, and death. It will also help reduce potential new variants that might emerge. You can track the progress of vaccines administered to HPI quartiles on our vaccine dashboard.

When we met the Vaccine Equity Benchmarks of administering 2 million and 4 million to the hardest-hit communities statewide we expanded the Blueprint for a Safer Economy tiers to allow for somewhat higher case rates in the Substantial (red), Moderate (orange), and Minimal (yellow) tiers. Learn more about these changes in CDPH’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy framework.

How to move between risk levels

There are two measures to determine how counties move through tiers: case rates and test positivity. We’ve been tracking these measures through regular progression and accelerated progression. To move to a higher tier with regular progression, a county must meet the case rate and test positivity thresholds for that tier for two consecutive weeks. Accelerated progression requires that test positivity and health equity metric are especially low with a declining case rate to move to a less restrictive tier. Read comprehensive detail about how counties can move through tiers.

 

The positivity rate in the matrix above excludes people in state and federal prisons, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities, US Marshal detention facilities, and Department of State Hospitals facilities.
*Small counties (those with a population less than 106,000) may be subject to alternate case assessment measures for purposes of tier assignment.
**Health equity metric is not applied for small counties. The health equity metric is used to move to a less restrictive tier.

 

Questions and answers

Why can some activities and businesses open while others have to stay closed?

Activities and businesses that have a lower risk of spreading COVID-19 are allowed to open sooner. Higher-risk activities or businesses aren’t allowed until later tiers. An activity or business’s tier depends on whether it can:

• Accommodate mask wearing at all times (for example, eating and drinking requires removing masks)
• Allow physical distance between individuals from different households
• Limit the number of people per square foot
• Limit time that an individual is at the business or activity
• Limit time of exposure
• Limit mixing of people from different households
• Limit amount of physical interactions of visitors/patrons
• Increase airflow (such as operating outdoors or opening windows and doors) 
• Limit activities that are known to increase virus spread (like singing, shouting and heavy breathing)

Can my school open under the Blueprint for a Safer Economy?

All K-6 grade schools are able to open for in-person instruction if the county case rate is below 25 per 100,000 and their plan for reopening is not found deficient by county health officials or the State Safe Schools Team. All schools are able to open for in-person instruction if the county is in the red, orange or yellow tiers. 

All public schools must offer in-person instruction under the COVID-19 relief and school reopening relief package for K-2 grades and students with high needs by March 31, 2021. Schools that do not offer in-person instruction for these groups by that date will lose 1 percent of eligible funds every day thereafter.

Schools in the Substantial (red) tier or better are required to offer in-person instruction to all students in all elementary grades and at least one middle or high school grade, or risk the same funding penalty.

Learn more about guidance for schools.

What can I do to help my county reach a lower tier?

• Stay home except for essential needs.
• Wear a mask in public.
• Wash your hands regularly.
• Keep at least six feet of physical distance when in public.
• Limit mixing with people you don’t live with.
• Get vaccinated.