San Bernardino County is one of 35 counties that is on the state’s monitoring list. Counties that are on the monitoring list are prevented from holding large gatherings, and schools and some businesses are not allowed to open. Managing editor Tami Roleff explains the six criteria that put a county on the monitoring list…
The state has listed six criteria that puts a county on its monitoring list. San Bernardino County meets the state standards on three of the six criteria: the percentage of increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations; the number of ICU beds in use; and the number of ventilators in use. San Bernardino County does not meet the numbers for three other criteria: the number of COVID-19 tests performed every day over a seven-day average (San Bernardino County needs about 3,000 tests a day); the number of new cases per 100,000 residents over a two-week period (the requirement is fewer than 100; San Bernardino County has about 200 new cases per 100,000 residents); having a positivity rate of 8 percent or less (San Bernardino is at 10.6%). If county residents get tested—even if they don’t have any symptoms—all these criteria would be met and the county would come off the monitoring list and schools and businesses would be able to re-open.
The state says the county’s increase in transmissions is largely attributable to large gatherings, workplaces, nursing homes, jails and prisons, and patients being transferred from Imperial County. One way to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 is to wear face coverings.
