Kern County locks eyes on orange tier
Ridgecrest Daily Independent
Kern County could move into the State’s orange tier as soon as next week for the first time since California implemented the Blueprint for a Safer Economy tier system in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kern reported an adjusted case rate of 5.3 new cases per 100,000 people, a positivity rate of 2.3% and a health equity quartile rate of 3.4%, meeting all of the state’s metrics needed for the county to move into the less restrictive tier.
The state’s metrics for its tier system changed recently after California successfully administered 4 million vaccines to people throughout its lowest Healthy Places Index (HPI 1).
Everyone over 16 now eligible for Covid-19 vaccine
Taft Midway Driller
Effective immediately, all individuals 16 years old and older are eligible for COVID-19 vaccination in Kern County.
Late last week, the state sent out an email indicating that counties can relax the State’s eligibility criteria in advance of the April 15 statewide movement to all individuals 16 and older being eligible for the vaccine., Kern County Health Department spokeswoman Michelle Corson said. Kern’s vaccine supply is increasing, as we anticipate to receive more than 39,000 doses of vaccine this week, Corson said.
As of Sunday, 316,312 doses have been administered to Kern County residents. That means 116,705 or 12.7% of Kern’s population have completed their vaccination series, including 12,883 who were vaccinated with Johnson & Johnson. Another 92,582 people have received one dose of their two-dose series. Approximately 46% of Kern’s 65 and older population is now fully vaccinated,
Los Angeles County Public Health officials on Wednesday confirmed 116 new deaths and 1,759 new cases of COVID-19 countywide, as Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital in Valencia reported its 144th fatality since the pandemic began.
The Santa Clarita Valley now counts 26,240 total cases only 28 more than Tuesday and 269 deaths due to COVID-19 since L.A. County marked its first confirmed case on January 26, 2020.
To date, Public Health identified 1,195,913 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of L.A. County and a total of 21,669 deaths.
The seven-day average number of daily deaths continues to decline yet remains far too high. On January 13, the average peaked to 254 daily deaths, and today, as with far too many days during the week, over 100 deaths are reported. In early-November, average daily deaths averaged 14. Public Health officials hope that as hospitalizations decrease, fewer people will die.