California’s larger counties will not be permitted to reopen their economies further unless they reduce coronavirus infections in the hardest hit places where the poor, Black people, Latinos and Pacific Islanders live.
Under a new state requirement for reopening during the pandemic, counties with more than 106,000 residents must bring infections down in these places and invest heavily there in testing, contact tracing, outreach and providing means for infected people to isolate. Los Angeles is one county sure to be affected, along with others in Southern California.
The measure is designed to ensure that test positivity rates in the most disadvantaged neighborhoods do not lag significantly behind a county’s overall rate, a disparity that has been widespread during the pandemic.
The new requirements, which take effect Oct. 6, may make it difficult for some counties to reopen as quickly and broadly as local leaders would like.
Black people, Latinos and Pacific Islanders have been disproportionately hurt by the pandemic. Many are essential workers, lack easy access to healthcare or live in crowded conditions. In San Francisco, at least half of all the the city’s infections stem from the Mission District, which is heavily Latino.
“Our entire state has come together to redouble our efforts to reduce the devastating toll COVID-19 has had on our Latino, Black and Pacific Islander communities,” Acting State Public Health Officer Dr. Erica Pan said in a news release.
“This isn’t just a matter of higher cases in these communities — it is an issue of life and death that is hurting all Californians,” she added. ” An all-community, cross-sector approach to work together to slow the transmission of COVID in all populations will help ensure we reopen our economy safely, protect our essential workers, and support our local partners.”
State officials announced weeks ago that a new “equity” measure would be added. It was unveiled on the state’s Department of Public Health website on Wednesday.
Most counties have significant differences in the coronavirus positivity rate between richer and poorer neighborhoods. The prevalence of disease in one neighborhood adds to the risks for the entire county, the state said.
“It is imperative to reduce disease transmission in all communities to ensure California reopens its economy safely,” the Department of Public Health said in announcing the new metric.
The larger county’s census tracts will be divided into quartiles based on the California Healthy Places index, a measure of socioeconomic opportunity that takes into account economic, social, education, housing and transportation factors. The lowest quartile of these tracts is now home to 24% of Californians but accounts for 40% of COVID-19 cases, the state said.
The requirement establishes specific positive case rate numbers that larger counties must meet in their poorer cities and neighborhoods to move to a less restrictive level of reopening. These counties also will have to submit plans targeting those communities for health investments.
The new metric also rewards counties that bring down disease in their low income regions, making it easier for them to reopen even if they fall behind the other two state requirements now in place.
Those requirements allow for reopening only if weekly new infections are no more than 7 for each 100,000 residents and test positivity rates are at certain levels.
