More counties came off California’s COVID-19 watchlist over the weekend after posting declines in cases, transmission rates and hospitalizations for three consecutive days.
Orange, Mono and Sierra counties were removed from the list after meeting six safety thresholds that state officials established to measure the spread of the virus, as well as hospitalizations and capacity in hospitals’ intensive care units.
Being placed on the list forces counties to close various types of indoor activities, but being removed from it does not immediately allow the three counties to open up more widely. Indoor operations at nail salons, barbershops and fitness centers, among other businesses, must remain closed until the state’s top health officer revises the order that spells out the rules for the watchlist.
For the last few weeks, state health officials have been promising to release updated guidelines for the watchlist following the discovery of a technical glitch in the state’s database of test results that prompted officials to suspend the use of the list.
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