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COVID-19: Official Risk Level for Each Bay Area County

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A doctor with the Haight Ashbury Free Clinic walks by a supportive sign on a boarded-up shop in the Haight Ashbury area of San Francisco on March 17, 2020.  (Josh Edelson/AFP via Getty Images)

Updated April 5, 2021

California uses a four-tier, color-coded system that classifies each county’s coronavirus transmission risk and governs which businesses and activities are allowed in each county. Counties may adopt rules that are more, but not less, restrictive than those prescribed by the state.

The colors are purple, red, orange and yellow, in descending order of risk level. The system calibrates the levels based on new cases and the percentage of positive coronavirus tests, as well as a health equity metric that is intended to eliminate disparities in levels of transmission between different ethnic and socioeconomic communities. The state reviews data and updates the status of the counties every Tuesday. Counties must remain in a colored tier for a minimum of three weeks.


Use the following link to find which categories of businesses and activities are allowed to open under the state’s blueprint:

Keep in mind that the site notes which categories of businesses and activities are allowed to open, but not if the counties themselves have followed that plan or if they have opted to enact more restrictive rules.

To find the specifics of what each county is allowing or prohibiting, use the links below.

Alameda

Risk level: Orage, or moderate, second-safest level

Contra Costa

Risk level: Red, or substantial, second-riskiest level

Marin

Risk level: Orange, or moderate, second-safest level

Napa

Risk level: Red, or substantial, second-riskiest level

San Francisco

Risk level: Orange, or moderate, second-safest level

San Mateo

Risk level: Orange, or moderate, second-safest level

Santa Clara

Risk level: Orange, or moderate, second-safest level

Solano

Risk level: Red, or substantial, second-riskiest level

Sonoma

Risk level: Red, or substantial, second-riskiest level

 

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